Nine years a captive, or, John Gyles' experience among the Malicite Indians, from 1689 to 1698 [microform]

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NINE YEARS A CAPTIVE

OR

JOHN CiYLES"

KXPKRIl'.NCK AM<<M; IHI'.

MALICITE INDIANS,

,.^

From 1689 to 1698,

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WITH AN

Introduction and Historical Notes

BY

JAMES HANNAY.

!

— »/i » ,\ —

SAINT JOHN, N. B.:

DAILY IKI.F.GRAPH STEAM JOB PRESS.
1875-

INTRODUCTION.

The following narrative of the captivity of John Gyles among the
Indians of the St. John River, independently of its interest as a tale
of human suffering and endurance, is of great value as a means of
illustrating the manners and customs of the Indian tribes of Acadie.
It is this consideration which is mainly the cause of its republication
now, for it is the only authentic narrative that is known to exist of
any lengthened residence among the savage tribes of Acadie during
the seventeenth century, the period of their greatest power and
greatest activity. Without it we might form a tolerable conjecture
of the mode of life of the aborigines of our country, but the narrative
of Gyles, in its simple and truthful qua'.ntness, introduces us to those
barbarous people as they actually were, tells us how they lived,
what priv^ations they endured, shows us, in short, the Ind'an stripped
of his paint and feathers and without those romantic surroundings
amid which writers of poetry and some historians have delighted to
depict him. By the light of such a narrative, we are able to perceive
how wretched was the lot of an Acadian Indian, even during the
period when his very name carried terror to the hearts of the settlers
of New Hampshire and Maine. Modern civilization may have de-
graded him in some respects, but it has elevated him in others. It
has rescued him from the danger of starvation to which in his pristine
state he was constantly exposed, and also from the cruel necessity of
abandoning the aged and feeble of his kindred to perish, when unable
longer to supply their own wants or endure the constant journeys
necessitated by the nature of their nomad life.

A vast deal of nonsense has been written about the North Ameri-
can Indians, and perhaps on no point have the w-riters who conceive
their vague fancies to be solemn facts, exhausted their rhetoric to a
greater extent than in regard to the supposed inevitable doom of the
Red Man, which they conceive to be his utter extinction. If, as ap-
pears to be the belief in some of the Western United States, the proper
thing to do with every Indian is to shoot him, then of course the ex-
tinction of the race would seem to be inevitable, but fortunately this
simple policy is not likely to be universally adopted. There is no

4 IN' rkouiJcrioN.

reason whatever why the I'ndians of tin's continent sliould perish from
the face of the earth, unless it is to be found in the lawless brutality,
treachery and bad faith of white men. In New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia, thanks to a policy of justice which protects men from murder
and violence, no matter what their color, the Indians are increasing in
numbers. I am firmly convinced, after a pretty thorough investi-
gation of every available original authority, that there arc more
Indians in New l^run.swick and Nova Scotia now than there ever
were during any part of either the seventeenth or eighteenth cen-
turies. It is doubtful if both the Malicites and Micmacs together
ever could have brought 800 warriors into the field during the his-
torical period. In point of fact, that number of warriors never v/as
as.scmbled together in Acadie at any one time. When Mcmbertou,
the Micmac, in 1607 collected all his forces to attack the Armouch-
quois at Chouakoet, (Saco) his whole force amounted to only 400
men, and there were never more than 300 Malicites engaged in an)-
of the numerous raids they made on the English settlements. Even
the Iroquois or five nations, which included the Mohawks, the mo.st
formidable Indian Confederacy in North America, never numbered
more than 2,500 warriors..,,, <- . , , . .-..,,, ,,,,.. ,,„^,, .

The Indians of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, two provinces
which formed a part of the ancient French Province of Acadie, all
belonged to the great Algonquin family or nation, but were divided in-
to two tribes. The Souriquois or Micmacs occupied the vvhole of the
peninsula of Nova Scotia and the Gulf Shore of New Brunswick as
far North as Gaspe. The Etchemins or Malicites po.ssessed the
whole of the line of the St. John River and inland as far as Riviere
du Loup, and along the sea shore westward to the Penobscot. The
people now known as the Penobscot Indians, the Passamaquoddy
Indians, the Abenaquis of the Province of Quebec and the Indians
now living on the St. John River are all Etchemins or Malicites and
regard themselves as one people. The Malicites were a warlike race,
as subtle and savage as any tribe on the continent, and lying, as they
did, on the flank of the New England settlements, which they con-
stantly attacked, their destriction was a consummation devoutly
prayed for but never accompli.shed by the descendants of the Pilgrim
fathers. Even the laurels which Capt. Church had gained in King-
Philip's war withered when he came to Acadie, and his triumphs were
restricted to the burning of the dwellings and barns of the inoffensive
P^rench liabitauts of Chignecto and Minas. The Micmacs of Acadie

tNTR()I)UCTl()>^.

5

were usuall)' tlic allies of tlu Malicites and fre<|uciit!)- sent warriors
to take part in their expeditions against Maine.

The Indian war, in the course of which Jolin (iyles was taken, was
the second great Indian war in which the peoj^le of l**astern New
England took part. It is known in history as King William's war,
from the iMiglish monarch in whose reign it took place, as the first
Indian war is known as King rhili[)'s war from the name of the In-
dian Sagamore who banded his countrymen against tlie whites.
King William's war was commenced in 1688 and lasted ten years.
It was a ruinous contest. All the Indian tribes eastward of the
Merrimack, including the Micmacs, took part in it. l-Acr)- town and
settlement in Maine except Wells, York, Kitter)- and tlie Isle of
Shoals was over-run. A thousand white people were killed or taken
prisoners and an untold number of domestic animals destroyed. Like
nearly every other war, which the Indians have waged against the
Whites, the latter were responsible for its origin. Several cau.ses, some
remote and .some immediate, combined to invest this contest with a
more than ordinary degree of ferocity. One of the former illustrates in
a remarkable manner that long remembrance of an injury whch is
characteristic of savages. In 1676, towards the close of King IMiilip's
war, Major Waldron. the Commander of the Militia, at Dover, had made
a peace with 400 of the Eastern Indians and they were encamf)cd
quietly near his hou.se, and regarded him as their friend and father.
Two companies of troops, under Captains Sill and Hawthorne, soon
afterwards arrived at Dover and they together with Major Waldron
contrived a treacherous .scheme to make the Indians prisoners.
Waldron propo.sed to the Indians to have a review and a sham fight
after the Engli.sh mode; and summoning his own men, they in con-
junction with the two companies formed one party, and the Indians
another. After manoeuvring for .some time Major Waldron induced
the Indians to fire the first volley, and the instant this was done they
were surrounded by the .soldiers and the whole 400 of them n">adc
pri.sonens. About half of them were afterwards set at liberty, but
more than 200 Indians who had taken part in the war were sent to
Bo.ston, where a number of them were hanged and the remainder
.sold into slavery. This despicable act of treachery the Indians
never forgot or forgave. It was a base deed which in after years
brought its own punishment. The Indians learned the le.s.son and im-
j)roved upon it. Thirteen years later Major Waldron was slain by
the Indians, under circumstances which involved a breach of faith and

in

It :

6 [NTKOUUCTION.

of tlic laws of hospitality equal to his own, and, after the lapse of
nearly ninety years, the Ottawas captured Machilmackinac by a de-
vice exactly modeled on Waldron's exploic; thus the evil seed sown
by liim bore its legitimate fruit.

The war was, hov/ever, precipitated by another needless outrage
the infamy of which belongs to Andross the Governor of New Eng-
land. In 1667 the I^aron de St. Castine, who had been an officer in
the Carignan Regiment in Canada, settled on a point of land on the
eastern bank of the Penobscot River, near the town which now bears
his name. He married a daughter of the MaMcite Sagamore Madock-
awando and built a trading house where he did a large and profitable
business with the Indians, among whom he was regarded with a de-
gree of reverence that almost amounted to worship. It would have
been prudent to have kept on good terms with such a man, but An-
dross, in April, 1688, thought proper to land with a party of men
from the Rose frigate and rob Castine's house and fort, an act which
so provoked the latter that he very soon gave the people of New
England cause to curse the folly of their Governor. In a short time,
mainly owing to his influence, the tribes of Acadie and Eastern
Maine were allied and in arms against the English and the war com-
menced, one episode 01 which is described in the narrative in the fol-
lowing pages. I have given it in the exact language of the writer,
but have added such notes as appeared to be necessary to the pro-
per understanding of the interesting story of Mr. Gyles,

MEMOIRS

iMlcr.

I

UV ODD ADVKNTURES, STRANGE DEI.IVKRANCKS, K'lC, IN 1 UK ( Al'
TIVITV OF JOHN (lYMOS, KSg.. COMMANDER OF THE GARRISON ON
ST. GEORGE RIVER, IN TIH. DISTRICT OF MAINE. WRITTEN liV
HIMSELF.* .-u ": i> ■•

Introduction. — These private memoi'-s were toilet ted frt^ni my minutes,
at the earnest reciuest of my secontl t t)nsort, for the use of our family, that
we might have a memento ever ready at hand, to excite in oursehes urati-
tude and thankfulness to God; and in our offspring a due sense of their
dependence on the Sovereign of the universe, from the preeariousness and
vicis.situdes of all sublunar)' enjoyments. In this state, and for this end,
they have laid by me for some years. They at length fallmg into the hands
of some, for whose judgement 1 had a value, I was i)ressetl for a copy for the
public. Others, desiring of me to extract ])articulars from them, which tlie
multiplicity and urgency of my affairs woukl not admit, I have now deter
mined to suffer their publication. I have not made scarce any addition to
this manual, except in the chapter of creatures, which I was urgetl to make
much larger. I might have greatly enlarged it, but J fearetl it woultl grow
beyond its proportion. I have been likewise advised to give a parti( ular nc-
count of my father, which I am not very fond of, having no dependence on
the virtues or honors of my ancestors to recommend me to the favor of (lod
or men ; nevertheless, because some think it is a respect due to l he memory
of my parents, whose name I was obliged to mention in the following story,
and a satisfaction which their posterity might justly expect from me, I shall
give some account of him, though as brief as possible.

The flourishing state of New England, before the unhappy eastern wars,
drew my father hither, whose first settlement was on Kennebeck River, at a
place called Merrymeeting Bay, where he dwelt for some years; until, on the
death of my grand parents, he, with his family, returned to England, to settl"
his affairs. This done, he came over with the design to have returned to his
farm; but on his arrival at Boston, the eastern Indians had begun their hos-
tilities. He therefore begim a settlement on Long Island. The air of that
place not so well agreeing with his constitution, and the Indians having l)e-
come peaceable, he again proposed to resettle his lands in Merrymeeting
Bay; but finding that place deserted, and that Plantations were going on nt
Pemmaquid, he purchased several tracts of land of the inhabitants there.
Upon his highness the Duke of York resuming a claim to those parts, my
father took out patents under that claim ; and when Pemmat[uidt was set off

*The name of Capt. John Gyles will not be f .and in Allen's American Biography or any similar work.
where the names and memories of so many buckram Colonels and Captains are preserved. Vet his record
was an honorable oiie. He was living at Roxbury, M.iss., in the year 1753, and w.-is then 73 years of age.
He must therefore have been 9 years old at the time of his capture and 18 at the time of his lil)eration.
Some of his public services are stated at the end of this narative. And that they were of j^reat value to
the government his constant employment would seem to indicate. The narrative of his Captivity was first
published in Boston in 1736.

\ Pemmaquid which was once an important settlement, is on the coast midway between the Kennebec and
Penobscot nvers. Its outer harbor is large and safe and alwut five miles within it is F'ort Point which is
at the entrance of an inner harbor capable of containing ten ships of the line. There is there a natur..!
quay or wharf where a ship of large b- rthen may lie afloat at all times of the tide. I'he fort of Pemmaquid
was close to this natural wharf.

» CAITIVl'IY OF JOHN (.VI.KS.

hy the name of the coimly of Cornwall, in the provincx' of New York, he
was commissioned <liief justice of the same by (iov. Duncan [Dongan.]
He was a strict sahhatarian, and met with considerable ditficuity in the dis-
chari^e of his oOHe, from the immoralities of a people who had long lived
lawless. He laid out no inconsiilerable income, which he had annuallv from
l'ai;^dand, (;n the place, and at last lost liis life there, as will hereafter be
rclatetl.

I am not insensible of the truth of an assertion of Sir Roger I /Estrange,
that " P)(K)ks and dishes have this common fate: no one of either ever
pleased all tastes.'' And I am fully of his opinion in this: "It is as little to
l)c wished for as e.\[)ected; for a universal applause is, at least, two-thirds of
a scandal." 'I'o conclude with Sir Ri^^er, "Thcugh I made this composition
|)rincipally for my family, yet, if any man has a mind to take part with me;
!e has free leave, and is welcome;' but let him carry this consideration
along with him, "that he is a very unmannerly guest who forces himself ujjon
iuiothcr man's table, and kXx'cw quarrels with his dinner."

C(J.NrAIMNt; llll. nCCUKK,KNX'ES Ol' THK KIKSI- VKAK. ' A' '

( )n the second day of August, 1689, in the morning, my honored father,
Thomas (ivLKs, Ksg., went with some laborers, my two elder brothers and my-
self, to one of his fiirms, which laid upon the river about three miles above
l''ort Charles,* adjoining l\'mma([uid Falls, there to gather in his English har-
vest, and we labored securely till noon. After we had dined, our people went to
their labor, some in one field to their English hay, the others to another field of
E..glish corn. My father, the youngest of my two brothers, and myself, tar-
ried near the farm-house in which we had dined till about one of the clock ;
at which time we heard the rei)ort of several great guns at the ibrt. Upon
which my father said he hoped it was a signal of good news, and that the
great council had sent back the soldiers, to cover the inhabitants; (for on re-
|)ort of the revolution they had deserted.) But to our great surprise, about
thirty or forty Indians, at that moment, discharged a volley of shot at us,
from behind a rising ground, near our barn. The yelling of the Indians, the
whistling of their shot, and the voice of my father, whom I heard cry out,
"What now ! what nowl" so terrified me, (though he seemed to be handling
a gun,) that I endeavored to make my escape. My brother ran one way and
1 another, and looking over my shoulder, I saw a stout fellow, painted, pur-
suing me with a gun, and a cutlass glittering in his hand, which I expected
every moment in my l)rains. I soon fell down, and the Indian seized me by
the left hand. He offered me no abuse, but tied my arms, then lifted me up,
and pointed to the place where the people were at work about the hay,
and led me that way. As we went, we croosed where my father was, who
looked very pale and bloody, and walked very slowly. When we came to
the place, I saw two men shot down on the flats, and one or two more
knocked on their heads w h hatchets, crying out, "O Lord," &c. There the

* In a note appended to the original narrative, our author says, " Fort Charles stood on the spot where
Kurt Frederick was, .lat long since, founded by Colonel Dunbar. The township adjoining thereto was called
Jamestown in honor of the Duke of York. In this town, withii. a quarter of a mile of the fort, was my
father's dwelling house from which he went out that unhappy morning." I may add that Fort Charles was
a redoubt with two guns aloft, and an outwork about nine feet high, with two bastions in the oppositu
angles, in each of which were two cannon, .""nd another at the gateway. It was built in 1677, but the Fem-
inaiinid setflement was older than Boston.

CAiniviiY or JOHN <;yi,ks. 9

Indians brought two captives, one a man, and my brother James, who, with
me, had endeavored to escape by running from the house, when we were
first attacked. 'I'his broth( i- was aboi c fourteen years of age. My oldest
brother, whose name was '1 honins, wonderfully escaped by Innd to the Har-
l)ican, a point o( land on the west side of the river, opposite the fort, where
several fishing vessels lay. He got on boaid one of them and sailed ihat
night. .V, ; ,

After doing what mischief they could, they sat down, and made us sit
with them. After some time we arose, and the Indians pointed for us to go
eastward. We marched about a (juarter of a mile, and then made a halt.
Here they brought my father to us. They made i)rojK)sals to him. by old
Moxus, who told him that those were strange Indians who shot him, and
that he was sorry for it.* My father rei)lied that he was a dying man, and
wanted no favor ot them, but to i)ray with his children. This being granted
him, he recommended us to the protection and blessing of (iod Almighty;
then gave us the best advice, and took his leave for this life, hoping in (Iod
that we should meet in a better. He ])arted with a cheerful voice, but looked
ver)' pale, by reason of his great loss of blood, which now gushed out of his
shoes. The Indians led him aside I- 1 heard the blows of the hatchet, but
neither shriek nor groan! I afterwards heard that he had five or seven shot-
holes through his waistcoat or jacket, and that he was covered with some
boughs, t '••'.. ^tj:./, T.:; , ,,u,a?^■ J,?

The Indians led us, their captives, on the east side of the river, towards
the fort, and when we came within a mile and a half of the fort and town,
and could see the 'fort, we saw firing and smoke on all sides. Here we made
a short stop, and then moved within or near the distance of three quarters
of a mile from the fort, into a thick ; 'amp. There I saw my mother and
my two little sisters, and many other captives who were taken from the
town. My mother asked me about my father. I told her he was killed, but
could say no more for grief. She burst into tears, and the Indians moved
me a little farther off, and seized me with cords to a tree.

The Indians came to New Harbor, and sent spies several days to observe
how and where the people were em])loyed, iS:c., who found the men were
generally at work at noon, and left about their houses women and children.
Therefore the Indians divided themselves into several parties, some ambush-
ing the way between the fort and the houses, as likewise I 'ween them and
the distant fields; and then alarming the farthest off first, the/ killed and took
the people, as they moved towards the town and fort, at their pleasure, and
very few escaped to it. Mr. Pateshall was taken and killed, as he lay with
his sloop near the Barbican.

On the first stir about the fort, my youngest brother was at play near it,

and running in, was by God's goodness thus preserved. Captain Weems,

vith great courage and resolution, defended the weak old fort two days;

when, being much wounded, and the best of his men killed, he beat for a

parley, which eventuated in these conditions :

I, That they, the Indians, should give him Mr. Pateshall's sloop. 2.
That they should not molest him in carr}-ing off the few people that had got

* Moxus was a Chief of the Canibas who lived on tlie Kennebec River and therefore may have been quite
sincere in his expressions of regret, for it was true that they were strange Indians who shot the elder (lyles,
most of the attacking party being from the St. John Kiver. The whole party according to Charlevoix,
numbered one hundred.

I It was a common custom of the Indians to kill their prisoners who were unable to keep up with thcni
in their long marches.

ro

CAFTIVIIV OK JOHN flVLf'.S.

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into the fort, and tlirec (:ai)tives that they had taken. 3. 'I'hat the Knghsh
should carry off in tlieir Imnds what they could from the fort.*

On these conditiori:^ the fort was surrendered, and Captain Weems went
off, and soon after, the Indians set on fire the f(>rt and houses, which made a
terrible blast, and was a melancholy sight to us ])oor caj>tives, who were sad
spectators !

After the Indians had thus laid waste Pemnia(iuid, they moved us to New
Har!)or, about two miles east of Pemma(iuid, a cove much frequented by
fishermen, At this i>lace, there were, before the war, twelve houses. These
the inhabitants deserted as soon as the rumor of war reached the place.
\Vh(,Mi we turned our baclcs on the town, my heart was ready to break. 1'
saw my mother. She spoke to me, but 1 could not answer her. That night
we tarried at New Harbor, and the next clavwent in their canoes for Penob-
scot. About noon, the cano^^ in w'nich my mother was, and tliat in which I
was, came side by side, whether accirlentally or by ray mother's desire I can-
not say. She asked me how I did. I think i said "pretty well," but my
heart was so full of giief I scarcely knew whether audible to her. Then she
said, "O my childl how joyful and pleasant it would be, if we were going to
old England, to see your uncle Chalker, and other friends there. Poor babe,
we are going into the wilderness, the l.ord knows where." Then bursting
into tears, the canoes parted. That night following, the Indians with their
captives lodged on an island.

A few days after, we arrived at Penobscot fort, where I again san- my
mother, my brother and sisters, and many other captives. 1 think we tarried
here eight da vs. In that time, the Jesuit of the place had a great mind to
l)uy me. My Indian master made a visit to the Jesuit, and carried me with
him. And here I will note, that the Indian who takes a captive is accounted
his master, and has a perfect right to him, until he gives or sells him to
another. I saw the Jesuit show my master pieces of gold, and understood
afterwards tliat he was tendering them for my ransom. He gave me a bis-
cuit, which I {)ut into my ])ocket, and not darii^g to ec^t it, buried it under a
log, fearing he had ])ut something into it to make me love him. P>eing ve/y
young, and having heard much of the Papists torturing the Protestants,
caused me to act thus; and I hated the sight of a Jesuit. When my mother
heard the talk of my being sold to a Jesuit, she said to me, "Oh, my dea-
child, if it were (iod^ will, I had rather follow you to your grave, or never
see you more in this world, than you should be sold to a Jesuit, for a Jesuit
will ruin you, body and soul."t It pleased God to grant her recjuest, for she
never saw me more. Yet she and my two little sisters were, after several
years' captivity redeemed, but she died before I returned. My brother who
was taken with me, was, after several years' captivity, most barbariously tor-
tured to death, by the Indians.

village

■all

ed

My Indian Master carried me up Penol)scot Piver, to a
Mada:camk('e^ which stands on a j^oint of land between the main river nnd a
liranch which heads to the east of xVX At home i had ever seen strangers

■ These conditions are said to li.ive l)een violated. The lives of Wecms and six of his giirrisoii vvere
spared, the others seven or eight in number, were killed, 'i'his ci'-ininistancc seems to have escaped the
iiotice of Gyles.

t The name of this Jesuit was M. Thury. He was at the head of the Mission among the j.iHians on nc
I'onobscot. It is pleasing to note that the influence of the Missionaries aiuonf< the hid'ans was almost al-
w.ays exercised on the side of humanity. Thury, however, was with the Indianii when they attacked I'eni-
maijuid.

{ [t i%alijiost needless to rem;u'k that this is the river novv known as the Manawamkeag, ; near it" juuc-
liou with the P^nr.bscot. there is now a station of the I". X; N. A. Railway.

CAI'TlVllA' OF JOHN OVl.KS.

II

treated with the utmost civ^'ity, and being a strange. ^"H exi)e( ted sonic kind
treatment here; but I soon tbund myself deceived, for I presently saw a
number of squaws, who had got together in a circle, dancing and yelling.
An old grim looking one took me by the hand, and leading me into the ring,
some seized me by my hair, and others by my hands and feet, like so many
furies; but my master presently laying down a pledge, they released me.

A captive among the Indians is exi)osed to all manner of abuses, and to
the extremest tortures, unless their master, or some of their master's relations,
lay down a ransom; such as a bag of corn, a blanket, or the like, which re-
deems them from'their cruelty for that dance, 'I'he next dav we went U).>
that eastern branch of Penol)scot River many leagues; carried overland to a
large pond, and from one pond to another, till in a few days, we went down
a river, called Medoctack, which vents itself into St. John's River. But be-
fore we came to the mouth of this river, we passed over a long carrying
])lact, to Medoctack fort, which stands on a bank of St. John's River.* My
master went before, and left me with an old Ind'an, and two or three S(juaws.
The old man often said, ^which was all the English he could speak,) '' By antl
by come to a great town and fort." I now comforted myself in thinking how
fmely I should be refreshed \\'hen I came to this great town.t

After some miles' travel we came in sight of a large cornfield, and soon
after of the fort, to my great surprise. Two or three scjuans met us, took off
ray i^ack, and led me to a large hut or wigwam, where thirty or forty Indians
were dancing and yelling round five or six poor < aptives, who had been taken
some months before from Quochech, at the time IMajor Waldron was so bar-
bariously butchered by them.:{: And before proceeding wnh my narrative I
will give a short account of that action.

Major Waldron's garrison was taken on the night of the 27th of June,
1689. 1 have heard the Indians say at a feast that as there was a truce for
some days, they contrived to send in two squawfi to take notice of the num-
bers, lodgings and other 'nrcumstances of the people in his garrison, and if
they could obtain leave to lodge there, to ope" the gates and whistle.
(They said the gates had no locks, but were fastenea with pins, and that they
kept no \uitch.) The Squaws had a favorable season to prosecute their pro-
jection, for it was dull weather when they came to beg leave to lodge in the
garrison. They told the Major that a great number of Indians were not far
from thence, with a considerable ijuantity of beaver, who would be there t-a
trade with him the next day. Some of the i)eoi)le were very nmcli against
their lodging in the garrison, but the major said '"Let the poor creatures
lodge by the fire." The Squaws went into ever)' ajKirtnient. and observing
the numbers in each, when all the people w-ere asleej), arose and opened the
gates, gave the signal, and the other Indians came to them; and having re-
ceived an account of the state of the garrison, they divided according to the
number of people in each a})artment, and soon took and killed tliem all. The
major lodged within an inner room, and when the Indians l-roke in upon
him, he cried out, "AVhat now! what new!" and jumping out of his bed with

The reader will have nu d'iriciilty in tracing tlie route oi Oy!es and his ciiptors on this oicasion. They
went up the Mattawamke.atc, earned acnxss the land to the largest of the Chepiuiiecticook lakes, known :i>
(if.aud Lak from it they portaged to North Lake and frmn tlience into First V.e\ Lake, from which they
easily reached Eel River, which is the stream ( lyles calls the Medoctack. The fort stood on the western
kink of the St. John about four miles above the mouth of Kel kiver.

t Cadillac writing in 1693 says o*" the Mallcites: " I'hey are well sha.ied and tolerably wa:like. Ihey at-
tend to the cultivation of ine soil, and );cow the most beautiful Indian Corn. I'hoir fort is at Medoctek."

J The rn(dorn spelling of this word is Cochec^i. 'I'h>? place where this biitcheiy took place is^in New
Hampshire, aiui it is now called Dover. The river, however, still retains its Indian name.

A

12

W

CAPTIVITY OF JOHN GVLKS.

!||i

I f

].

hi'

|1 M I

only hif^ shirt on, seized his sword and drove them before him through two
or three doors; l)ut for some reason, turning about towards the apartment
he had just left, an Indian came uj) Ijehind him, knocked him on the head
with his hatchet, which stunned him, and he fell. They now seized upon
hini, dragged him out, and setting him upon a long table in his hall, bid him
"judge Indians again. ' Then they cut and stabbed him, and he cried out,
' (), LordI O, Lord!" They bid him order his book of accounts to be
I wrought, and to cross out all the Indians' debts, (he having traded much with
them.) After they had tortured him to death, they burned the garrison and
drew off This narration I had from their own mouths at a general meeting,
and have reason to think it true.* BiU to return to my narrative.

I was whirled in among this circle of Indians, and we prisoners looked on
each other with a sorrowful countenance. Presently one of them was seized
by each hand and foot, by four Indians, who, swinging him up, let his back
fall on the ground with full force. This they repeated, till they had danced,
as they called it, round the whole wigwam, which was thirty or forty feet in
length. But when they torture a boy they take him up between two. This
is one of their customs of toituring captives. Another is to take up a person
by the middle, with his head downwards, and jolt him round till one would
think his bowels would shake out of his mouth. Sometimes they will take a
captive by the hair of the head, and stooping him forward, strike him on the
])ack and shoulders till the blood gushes out of his mouth and nose. Some-
times an old shrivelled Squaw will take up a shovel of hot euibers and throw
them into a captive's bosom. If he cry out, the Indians will laugh and
shout, and say, "What a brave action our old grandmother has done."
Sometimes they torture them with whips, &.c.

The Indians looked on me with a fierce countenance, as much as to say,
it will be your turn next. They champed cornstalks, which they threw into
my hat, as I held it in my hand. I smiled on them, though my heart ached.
I looked Oil one, and another, but could not perceive that any eye pitied me.
Presently came a Squaw and a little girl, and laid down a bag of corn in the
ring. The little girl took me by the hand, making signs for me to go out of
the circle with them. Not knowing their custom, I supposed they designed
to kill me, and refused to go. Then a grave Indian came and gave me a
short pipe, and said in English, "Smoke it;" then he took me by the hand
and led me out. My heart ached, thinking myself near my end. But he
carried me to a French hut, about a mile from the Indian fort. The French-
man was not at home, but his wife, who was a Squaw, had some discourse
witli my Indian friend, which I did not understand. We tarried about two
hours, then returned to the Indian village, where they gave me some victuals.
Not long after this I saw one of my fellow-captives, who gave me a melan-
choly account of their sufferings after I left them.

After some weeks had i)assed, we left this village and went up St. Johns,
river about ten miles, to a branch called Mcdockscetuxasis^ where there
was one wigwam, f At our arrival an old squaw saluted me with a yell, tak-
ing me by the hair and one hand, but I was so rude as to break her hold and

■* The details of this affair as given by Gyles entirely agree with the narratives of the survivors collected
by Belknap and other authors. In the Introduction 1 have ..tated the cause of this iict of vengeance on
the part of the Indians. Twenty-three people were killed and twenty-nine carried into captivity, some of
whom never returned. But even this affair brutal as it was, w.as not entirely destitute of a redeeming feature.
When Waldron treacherously captured the four huu'ired Indians in 1676, a young Indian broke away from
the rest and was concealed by Mrs. Klizabeth Heard. This charitable act was the means of saving her and
her family from injury at the Dover m.as.^acre of 1689.

t This river was the Medu.vnekeag and the place referred to is the site of the present town of Woodstock.

CAPTIVITY OF JOHN OYLF.S. 1 3

free myself. She gave me a filthy grin, and the Indians set up a laugh, and so
it passed over. Here we lived on fish, wild grapes, roots, &c., which was
hard living to nie.

When the winter came on we went up the river, till the ice came down,
running thick in the river, when according to the Indian custom, we laid u\)
our canoes till spring. Then we travelled sometimes on the ice, and some* •
times on the land, till we came to a river that was open, but not fordahle,
where we made a raft, and passed over, hag and baggage. I met with no
abuse from them in this winter's hunting, though 1 was put to great hard-
ships in carrying burdens and for want of food. But they undcr^vent the
same difficulty, and would often encourage me, by saying, in broken Knglish,
" ^v ajid by great deal mooser Vet they could not answer any question 1
asked them. And knowing little of their customs and way of life, I thought
it tedious to be constantly moving from place to place, though it might be in
some respects an advantage ; for it ran still in my mind that we were travell-
ing to some settlement ; and when my burden was o\er-heavy, and the
Indians left me behind, and the still evening coming on, I fancied I could see
through the bushes, and hear the people of some great town ; which hope,
though some support to me in the day, yet I found not the town at night.*

Thus we were hunting three hundred miles from the sea, and knew no
man within fifty or sixty miles of us. We were eight or ten in number, and had
but two guns, on which we wholly depended for food. If any disaster had
happened, we must ha\'e all perished. Sometimes we had no manner of
sustenance for three or four days ; but God wonderfully provides for all
creatures. In one of these fasts, God's providence was remarkable. Our two
Indian men, who had guns, in hunting started a moose, but there being a
shallow crusted snow on the ground, and the moose discovering them, ran
with great force into a swamp. The Indians went round the swam|>, and
finding no track, returned at night to the wigvvam, and told what had haj>-
pened. The next morning they followed him on the track, and soon found
him lying on the snow. He had, m crossing the roots of a large tree, that
had been blown down, broken through the ice made over the n-ater in the
hole occasioned by the roots of the tree taking up the ground, and hitched
one of his hind legs among the roots, so fast that by striving to get it out he
pulled his thigh bone out of its socket at the hip ; and thus extraordinarih-
were we provided for in our great strait. Sometimes they would take a
bear, which go into dens in the fall of the year, without any sort of food, and
lie there four or five months without food, never going out till spring : in
which time they neither loose nor gain in flesh. If they went into their dens
fat they came out so, and if they went in lean they came out lean. I have
seen some v/hich have come out with four whelps, and both very fat, and
then we feasted. An old squaw and a cai)tive, if any present, must stand
without the wigwam, shaking their hands and bodies as in a dance, and sing-
ing, " Wec.age oh nelo woh." which in English is, " Fat is my e iting."
This is to signifiy their thankfulness in feasting times. When the >upi)ly
was spent we fasted till furtiier success.!

* There is something inexpressibly pathetic in this p.irt of Ovles' narrative. The reader will remember
that h» was r mere child not ten years old, ill f-id and scantily clad, when he had to htar his burthen
through the forest after his Indian Master.

t The reader will notice in this paragraph the most conclusive of rea.son.s why the Indians of this part f>f
North America never could have been numerous. They had in the beginning of wintei to break up into
small parties for the better pursuit of game for means of sustenence, and often were subjected to dreadful
suffering from want. No people following their mode of '.ife and constantly at war could ever become very
uumerous.

I

14

CAIMINTiN OK JOHN CNl.KS.

i

1

* ■

i ■■

! i

'i

I

The way ihcy preserve meat is by taking the flesh from the bones and
drying it in smoke, l)y which it is kejit soutul months or years without s:Ut.
We moved still further up the country after moose when our store was out,
so that by spring we had got to the n(.)rthw^ard of the I>ady mountains,
When tile spring came and the rivers broke up, Ave moved back to the head
of St. Johns river, and there made canoes of moose hides, sewing three or
four together and pitching the seams with balsam mixed with charcoal,
i'iien we went d.own the river to a phve i-alled Madawescook.* There an
old man li\ed and kept a sort of trading house, where we tarried several days;
I lien we went further down the river till we came to the greatest falls in these
jjarts, called Checauekepeag, where we carried a little way over the land, and
iHiiting off our canoes we went down-stream still. And as we passed down
i)y die mouths of any laige branches, \\c saw Indians ; but when any dance
was i)r(j[^osed, I was bought off. At length we arrived at the place were we
left our I)irch canoes in the fall, and putting our baggage into them, went
down to the fort.

There we |j!anted corn, and after planting went a fishing, and to look for
and dig roots, till the corn was fit to weed. After weeding we took a second
tour on the same errantl, then returr»ed to hill our corn. After hilling we
went some tlistance from the fort and field, up the river, to take salmon and
other fish, which we dried for Ibod, wh;-re we continued till com was filled
with milk ; some of it we dried then, the other as it ripened. To diy coin
when in the milk, they gather it in large kettles and boil it on the ears, till it
is pretty hard, then shell it from the cob with clam-shells, and dry it on bark
in the sun. When it is thoroughly dr)', a kernel is no biggei than a pea, and
would keep years, and when it is boiled again it swells as large as when on the
ear, and tastes incomi)arably sweeter than other corn.t When we had gather-
ed our corn and diietl it in the way already described, we put some into Indian
barns, that is, into holes in the ground, lined and covered with bark^ and
then with dirt. The rest we carried up the river u])on our next winter's
hunting. Thus (lod wonderfully favored me, and cawied me through the
first year of u.iy captivity.

CHAPTKR 11.

Ol- IIIK AIUSIXK AM) HAI<l!.\K(irs I'kKA I'M KN'T WHuIl SKVK.RAI. IWI'TI VKS

MKT Willi I KO.M rUK, INDIANS.

When any great number of Indians met, or when any captives had been late-
1\- taken, or when any ca])tives desert and are retaken, they have a dance, and
tovture the unhapjn- people who have fallen into their hands. My unfortunate
brother, who was taken with me, after about three years' captivity, deserted with
another Knglishman, who had l)een taken fron: Casco Bay, and was retaken by
the Indians at New Harbor, and carrried back to Penobscot fort. Here they
were both tortured at a stake by fire, some time ; then their noses and ears
wee cut off, and they made to eat them. After this they were burnt to death
at the stake; the Indians at the same lime declaring that they would serve all

■* 'Ibis river was tli« Maiiaw.isk.T, ami tilt f:i!ls mentioned in the next sentence the Orand Falls of t'u-
River Si. [chn. The " l.aily Mninitiiins " were no dcnht the unumtains of Notre r>anie, ne:«r the S-iint
I ,riwrence.

t This recijjf f.ir preserving corn nii^ht be worthy the attention of housewives even at '.he present day.

The motlc of KtoriiiLC corn dcscritiei'. by ( lyles was practised by all the Indians of the Eastern Coast c.f

N'onh America. Wl;en the Pilgrim Fathers landed :it Flynionth in 1620 they found some of these Indian

cellars tilled wilh c^rn .uul .ippropriated their 1 oiUeiils. They paid the Indians f'lr the eurn the following

year.

tAiTiVrrv </F JdHN', c.Vf.Ks.

J5

ics and
fut s:'ilt.
•as out,
Lintains,
le hoad
hree or
harcoal.
'here an
\i\ days ;
in these
md, and
xl down
ly dance
were \\e
m, went

look for
I second
iUing we
non and
as filled
diy coin
ars, till it
on bark
pea, and
(jn on the
i gather-
o Indian
ark; and
winter',s
High the

' I \- i.s

)een late-

ince, and

fortunate

rtedwith

taken [)y

lere they

and ears

to death

serve all

Fulls f.f t'u
.»r the Splint

picMjiil ilay.
cm Cii;ist i.f
;bese Indian
lie foUowinv;

deserters in the same manner. Thus they divert themselves in their tlances.
On the second si)ring of my captivity, my Indian master atid his squaw
went to Canada, but sent me down the river with se\eral Indians to the fort,
to plant corn. 'I'he day before mc came to tlie ])lanting ground, we met
two young Indian men, who seemed to be in great haste. After they had
passed us, I understood they were going with an express to Canada, and
that there was an English vessel at the mouth of the river. 1 not being
perfect in their language, nor knowing that l''.rglish vessels traded with them in
time of war, supposed a |>eace was concluded on. and that the captives would
be released ; 1 was so transported with this fancy, that i slept but little if atiy
that night. Karly the next morning we came to the village, where my ecstacy
ended; for I had nn sooner landed, but three or four Indians dragged me to
the great wigwam, were they were yelling and dancing round jamcs .Alex-
ander, a Jersey man, who was taken from Falmouth, in Casco liay.*
This was occasioned by two families of Cape Sable Indians, who, having lost
some friends by a number of English fishermen, came soine hundreds of
miles to revenge themselves on poor captives. They soon came to me, and
tossed me about till 1 was almost breathless, and then threw me into the
ring to my fellow-captive: and taking him out, re])eated their barbarities
on him. 'I'hen I was hauled out again by three Indians, who seized me
by the hair of the head ; and bending me down by my hair, one beat mv on
the back and shoulders so long that my breath was almost beat out of my
body. Then others put a toni/iakc [tomahawkj into my hands, and ordered
me get uj) sing and dance Indian, which I performed with the greatest re-
luctance, and while in the act, seemed determined to i)urchase my death,
by killing two or three of those monsters of cruelty, tliinking it impossible
to survive the bloody treatment ; but it was impressed on my mind that it
was not in their power to take away my life, so 1 desisted.

Then those ('ape Sable Indians came to me again like bears bereaved (.-f
their whelps, saying, " Shall we, who have lost relations by the English, suffer
an English voice to beheard among us ? " (Sec. Theu they beat me again with
the axe. Now I repented that I had not sent two or three of them out of
the world before me, for I thought I had much rather die than suffer any
longer. They left me the second time, and the other Indians put the tom-
hake into my hands again, and compelled me to sing. Then I seemed more
resolute than before to destroy some of them ; but a strange and strong
imjiulse that I should return to my own ])hu-e and people suppressed it, as
often as sr.ch a motion rose in my breast. Not one of th.em showed the
least compassion, but I saw the tears run down plentifully on the cheeks of
a Frenchman who sat behind, though it did not alle\iate the tortures ])oor
fames and I were forced to endure for the most [)art of this tedious day :
for they were continued till the evening, and were the most severe that e\er
I met with in the whole six years that I was a ca])ti\e with the Indiatis.

After they had thus inhumanly abused us, two Indians took us \\\) and
threw us out of the wigwam, and we crawled away on our hands and feet,
and were scarce able to walk for several days. Some time after they again
concluded on a merry dance, when I was at some distance from the wigwam
dressing leather, and an Indian was so kind as to tell me that tliey had got
James Alexander, and were in search for me. My Indian master and his

t I'his place w-.ts taken by the Ituluiiis Mny _>oth, 1690, iiioie than iix) prisoners were lal:en there, and th ■
nut. iber killed was very Large. Alxiut joo Indians mainly fni,n Aradie, though some were frum yiieVxi;
were engaged in this enterprise.

i6

CAPTIVITY OF John gyles.

J! ;

|i i

sijuaw bid me run for my life into a swamp and hide, and not to discover
myself unless they l)oth came to me ; for then I might be assured the dance
was over. I was now master of their language, and a word or a wink was
enough to excite me to take care of one. I ran to the swamp and hid
in the thickest place I could find. I heard hallooing and whooping
all around me ; sometimes some passed very near me, and I could hear
some threaten and others flatter me, but I was not disposed to dance.
If they had come upon me, 1 had resolved to show them a pair of heels, and
they must have had good luck to ha\e catched me. I heard no more of
them till about evening, for I think I slept, when they came again, calling,
" Chon I Chon ! " but John would not trust them. After they were gone,
my master and his squa\\' came where they told me to hide, but could not
find me ; and, when I heard them say, with some concern, they belived
the other Indians had frightened me into the woods, and that I was lost, I
came out, and they seemed well pleased. They told me James had had a
bad day of it ; that as soon as he was released he ran away into the woods,
and they believed he was gone to the Mohawks. James soon returned, and
gave a melancholy account of his sufferings, and the Indian's fright concern-
ing the Mohawks passed over.* They often had terrible apprehensions of
the incursions of those Indians. They called also Maquas, a most am-
bitious, haughty and blood-thirsty people, from whom the other Indians take
their measures and manners, and their modes and changes ot dress, &c.
One very hot season, a great number gathered together at the village, and
being a verj' droughty [thirsty] people, they kept James and myself night
and day fetching water from a cold spring, that ran out of a rocky hill about
three (quarters of a mile from the fort. In going thither, we crossed a large
interval cornfield, and then a descent to lower interval, before we ascended
the hill to the spring. James being almost dead, as well as I, with this con-
tinual fatigue, contrived to frighten the Indians. He told me of his plan, but
conjured me to secrecy, yet he said he knew I could keep council. The next
dark night, James, going for water, set his kettle down on the descent to the
lowest interval, and running back to the fort, puflPing and blowing as though
in the utmost surprise, told his master that he saw something near the spring
that looked like Mohnwks, (which were only stumps.) His master being a
most courageous warrior, went with him to make discovery. When they
came to the brow of the hill, James pointed to the stumps, withal touching
his kettle with his toe, gave it a motion down the hill ; at every turn its bail
clattered, which caused James and his master to see a Mohawk in every

* The Mohawks were one of the n.itions of the Iroquois League, or five nations as they were semetimes
called. They dwelt in the State of New York and at the period of Gyles' captivity were .it the very height
of their power. \'et the best estimates show that all the natives of the league never could muster more
than 2,500 warriors. The Mohawks alone probably never numbered more than 800 men. Yet they were
a terror to the Indian nations for hundreds of miles aroiuid. It .seems incredible that the Micmac in Jis-
t.int Acadie should be in terror of tlie Mohawk in New York, yet such was the case. The secret of their
superiority is not easy to imderstand. The Malicites, and indeed all the Algonquin tribes, were incompa-
rably better hunters and canoe men, and the Iroquois were far from being a purely bred race, for they
adopted the prisoners taken in war in large numbers, so that in the course of time the original stock was
overshadowed to a large extent. Moral power and prestige, no doubt, had much to do with the awe which
they inspired and thus one victory begot further triumphs. The league which bound the five nations
together also gave them a unity and f)olitical influence which other peoples lacked. They h.id a tradition
(hat they were once weak, divided and scattered, and that they were rescued from this condition by the
counsels of a .Superior I'eing who visited them. When Cartier visited the site of Quebec and Montreal in
1535 he found them occupied by tribes of Indians, but when Champlain .'••-.cended the St. Lawrence, 70
years later, they had all disappeared. It is conjectured by some thai tliese people were Iroquois and that
the Algonqiiins afterwards drove them westward into the State of New York. This conjecture derives
plausibility from the fact that Canada, whirh signifies a town, and which is contained in the vocabulary c '
words which Cartier collected at Quebec, is a Mohawk word.

CAPTIVITY OF JOHN GYLKS.

17

Hscover
e dance
nk was
md hid
nooping
,ld hear

dance.
:els, and
nore of
calling,
e gone,
aild not
belived
; lost, I
i had a
; woods,
led, and
:oncern-
isions of
tost am-
ans take
•ess, &c.
ige, and
ilf night
ill about
i a large
scended
his con-
)lan, but
rhe next
It to the

though
e spring
being a
en they
touching
1 its bail
in every

; semetimes
very height
Ulster more
:t they were
:mac in Jis-
:ret of their
re incompa-
ce, for they
il stock was
: awe which
five nations
1 a tradition
ition by the
Montreal in
iwrence, 70
jis and that
:ure derives
)cabulary c '

Stump, and they lost no time in "turning tail to," and he was the best fellow
who could run the fastest. This alarmed all the Indians in the village.
They were about thirty or forty in number, and they j)ackcd off, bag and bag-
age, some u\) the river and others down, and did not return under fifteen days;
and then the heat of the weather being finally over, our hard service was
abated for this season. I never heard that the Indians understood the oc-
casion of their fright; but James and I had many a jmyate laugh about 't.

But my most intimate and dear com])anion was one John Evans, a youi;"
man taken from Quochecho. We, as often as we could, met together, and ma.
known our grievances to each other, which seemed to ease our minds; bu.
as soon as it was known by the Indians, we were strictly examined ai)art, and
falsely accused of contriving to desert. We were too far from the sea to have
any thought of that, and finding our stories agreed, did not punish us. An
English cai)tive girl about this time, who was taken by Medocawando. would
often falsely accuse us of plotting to desert; but we made the truth so plainly
appear, that she was checked and we were released. But the third winter of
my captivity, John Evans went into the country, and the Indians imposed a
heavy burden on hint, while he was extremely weak from long fasting; and
as he was going off the upland over a place of ice, whicii was ver}- hollow,
he broke through, fell down, and cut his knee very' nuich. Notwithstanding,
he travelled for some time, but the wind and cold were so forcible, that they
soon overcame him, and he sat or fell down, and all the Indians passed by
him. Some of them went 1)ack the next day after him, or his ])ack, and found
him, with a dog in his arms, both frozen to death. 'J'hus all of my fellow-
captives were dispersed and dead, but through infinite and unmerited good-
ness I was supported under and carried through all difficulties.

CHAPTER III.

OK I'lJRTHER UIFKICULTII'S AND DELIVER.^NCRS,

One winter, as we were moving from place to place, our h-mters killed some
moose. One lying some miles from our wigwams, a young Indian and myself
were ordered to fetch })art of it. We set out in the moi ning, when the weather
was promising, but it i)roved a very cold, cloudy day. It was late in the even-
ing liefore we arrived at the place where the moose lay, so that we had no
time to i)rovide materials for a fire or shelter. At the same time came on a
storm of snow, very thick, which continued until the next morning. We
made a small fire with what little rubbish we could f^.nd around us. The
fire, with the warmth of our bodies, melted the snow upon us as fast as it fell ;
and so our clothes were filled with water. However, early in the morning we
took our loads of moose flesh, and set out to return to our wigwams. We had
not travelled far before my moose-skin coat (which was the only garment 1
had on my back, and the hair chiefly worn off) was frozen stiff round my
knees, like a hoop, as were my snow-shoes and slin. --clouts to my feet.
Thus I marched the whole day without fire or food. ^\t first 1 was in great
pain, then my flesh became numb, and at times I felt extremely sick, and
thought I could not travel one foot farther; but I wonde, ally revived again.

After long travelling I felt very drowsy, and had thoughts of sitting down,
which had I done, without doubt I had fallen on my final sleej), as my dear
companion, Evans, had done before. My Indian companion, being better
clothed, had left me long before. Again my spirits revived as much as if I

i8

t AITIVIIV OK rnUN '.vf.rs.

IkuI received the ri< best foniial. Some hours after sunset I reached the wig-
wam, and crawh'ng in with ni\ snow-shoes on, the Indians cried out, "The
caiAive is frozen to deatli.'" They took off my pack, and the jjlace where
tiiat lay against my hark was the only one that was not frozen. They cut
off my shoes, and strip;)ed off ilie clouts from my feet, which were as void of
feeling as any fro/^cn llesh could lyj. I had not sat long by the fire before
tlie blood began lo circulate, and my feet to my ankles turned black, and
swelled with l)loody blisters, ami were int*\i»ressil)ly painful. Tiie Indians
sjid one to another. '* His feet v. ill rot. and he will die." Yet I slept well at
night. Soon after, the skin came ofT my feet from my ankles, whole, like a
shoe, leaving my toes naked, without a nail, and the ends ot my great toe
bones bare, which, in a little time, turned bku k, so that I was obliged to cut
lih- jirst joint off with my knife. 'I'he Indians gave me rags to bind up my
feet, and advised me to ap))ly ur balsam, but withal achled that they believed
it was not worth while to use means, for 1 should certainly die. But, by the
use of my elbows, and a stick in each hand, I shoved myself along as I sat
ui)on the ground over the snow from one tree to another, till I got some bal-
sam. This I burned in a clam-shell till it was of a consistence like salve,
which 1 a[)plied to my feet and ankles, and, by the divine blessing, within a
week I could go about upon my heels v.ith my staff. And through God's
goodness, we had provisiv^ns enough, so that we did not remove under ten or
lifteen days. Then the Indians made two little hoo})S, something in the form
of a snow-shoe, and se.,ing tnem to my feet, I was able to follow them in
their tracks, on my heels, from place to place, though sometimes half leg deep
in snow and water, which gave me the most acute pain imaginable; but I
must walk or die. Yet .>ithin a year my feet were entirely well; and the
nails came on iny great toes, so that a very critical eye could scarcely per-
ceive any part missing, or that they had been frozen at all.*

In a time of great scarcity of provisions, the Indians chased a large moose
into the river, and killed him. They brought the flesh to the village, and
raised it on a scaffold, in a large wigwam, in order to make a feast. I was
very officious in supplying them with wood and water, which pleased them so
well that they now and then gave me a i)iece of flesh half boiled or roasted,
which I ate with eagerness, and I doubt not with due thankfulness to the di-
vine Being who so extraordinarily fed me. At length the scaffold bearing the
moose meat broke, and I being under it, a large piece fell, and knocked me
on the head. The Indians said I lay stunned a considerable time. The
first I was sensible of was a murmuring noise in my ears, then my sight gradu-
ally returned, with an extreme pain in my hand, which was very much
bruised ; and it was long before I recovered, the weather being very hot.

I was once fishing with an Indian for sturgeon, and the Indian darting one,
his feet slipped, and he turned the canoe bottom upward, with me under it.
I held fast to the cross-bar, as I could not swim, with my face to the bottom
of the canoe ; but turning myself, I brought my breast to bear on the cross-
bar, expecting every minute the Indian to tow me to the bank. But "he had

* Surgeons difler ,-is to whether human flesh which is frozen can be restored. This was ilhistrated in the
celebrated case of Key 7's. Thomson, recently before our Courts, where one sot of doctors maintained that
portions of the human body which had been frozen could be restored, while another set maintained that
they could not. CJyles' experience would at first sight appear to favor the former view, but the freezing in
his cas2 might after all have been superficial. The restoration of the nails certainly was a curious circum-
stance. But his recovery seems to have been directly contrary to the opinion of the Indians whose experience
in such matters must have been wide, and therefore the case of Gyles must be regarded as a remarkable and
exceptional one.

CAPTIVITV OK JOHN (JVI KS.

'9

other fisli to fry." Thus I continuod n <n!artor of nn hour, [though] \vithout
want of brcatli, till the current drove me on a rocky pouit where I could
reach h(jttom. 'I'hcre I slo[)ped, and turned uj) my canoe. On lookl)ig
about for th.e Indian, I saw him IiaH' a mile off up the river. On going to
him, I asked him why he had not towed me to the bank, seeing he knew I
could not swim. He said he knew 1 was under the canoe, for there were no
bubbles any where to be seen, and that I should drive on the i)oi!"it. So
while he was taking care of his fine sturgeon, which was eight or ten feet in
length, I was left to sink or swim.

Once, as we w^re fishing for salmon at a fall of about fifteen feet of water,
I came near being drowuvd in a dceji hole at the foot of die fail. The Ir.diaiis
went into tlie water to u'ash themselves, and asked me to go with iheni.
I told them I could not swim, but they insisted, and so I went in. They
ordered me to dive across the deepest place, and if 1 fell siiorc of the other
side they said they would help me. I'ut, inj'ead *' diving across the narrow-
est pttrt, I was crawling on the bottom into the deepest pUu e. They not see-
ing me rise, and knowing whereabouts I \\'as by the l)ul)bling of the water,
a young girl di\ed down, and brought me up by the hair, otherwise I had
perished in the water. I'hough the Indians, bodi male and female, go into
tlie water together, they have each of them such a < uvering on that not the
least indecency can be observecf ;ukI neitlier cliustity nor modesty is vio-
lated.*

While at the Indian village, J had been cutting wood and binding it up
with an Indian rope, in order to carry it to the wigWcim, a stout, ill natured
young fellow, about twenty years of age, thivw me backward, sat on my
brea-st, pulled out his knife, and said he v.ould kill me, for he had never yet
killed one of the Kngli.sh. I told him he might go to war, juid diat would be
more manly than to kill a poor captive who was doing their drudgery for
them. Notwithstanding all I could say, he began to cut and stab me on my
breast. I sei/ed him by the hair, and tumbling him off of me, followed him
with my fists and knee with such apj.Oication that he soon cried " Knough."
But when I saw the blood run from my bosom, and felt the Gmart of the
wounds he had given me, 1 at him again, and bid him get uji, and not lie
there like a dog; told him of his former abuses offered to me. and otr.er poor
captives, and that if ever he offered the like to me again, I would pay him
double. 1 sent him 1,'efore me, and taking up my buiden of wood, cn.me to
the Indians, and told them the whole truth, and they commended me. And

' 'i'he iiKiclcsty of all tlie Algon.iuiii tiil)C> of indi.ir.s was proverbial, and il is a rem;uk:ilj!e circilinstaiice
that there is iiu irstaiice on record if the sli^^littst rudeness ever liavln^; 1 ten .sliewn to the person of a
female captive by any trib-e of the Al;^^'m^lllin nation. It is a fact that sI;ouK' be reineinldjred to their credir,
even by tl-.ose wlio nvist abhor tlieir bioodtiiirstlness and cnielty. liie F'rairie Indians of the United Stater,
h.'.vt no sui;h honiraljle repntaliini, and tli.>sc \ilio read i f the storming ;md sack of cities 1 y modern arniit*
niay !)aiise to .ask " wliich of the civilized peoples iiave imivcd them.-iclves eijual ,to the noor Alj,or.i|nins in
\irliie"r" Not the An,;lu S.T.xon ravjc certviinly, wiiicli has been so ca^^er to drive the Alj;on(iuins from the
f-.ce of the earth. Read what the ),rea;c>t of all .Military Hist>^rians, .N'r.pier, says in his history of the
I'euinsnhir W.ir of the conduct of the liriiish Army after the storming of .San Sebastian. "I'his stona
seemed to bo the .-.ignal of Ixdl for thf f ernetration of villainy v.iiich wouhl have shamed tlie most ferocious
barbarians of .Tntic|nity. At C'iiulad Rodrigo intoxication and plunder had been the f.rincipr.i object : at
r.adajo/ lur.t and minder were joined to lapnie and drunkeness ; but at San .Seb.istian, the diiest, il.e niost
revoltini', cruelty was .'.dded to tlie cal-.iIoj;we of crimes. One atn.city, of wluch a girl wf seventeen w.is the
victim, staggers the mind by its enormous, incredible, indes< ribable barhatity. S..me oriler was at fn st
maintained, but th.e resolution of the troops to throw cfi discipline was quickly made manifest. A Ihitish
stafl'-ofrK er was pursued with a volley of sttiall arms, and escaped wiih difficulty fn-ni men who mistook
him for the provost-martial of the fifth (livisiim ; a Portiij^uese adjiit.-int, who enil.'iavorcd to pre\e!it some
a'rocity, was put to death in tb.e market-place, not from sudden violence from a ..initio ruffian, bin delilxM-
atcly by a number of lOnalish soldiers. Tifiuiy officer!; eYerted themselves to pi-e.-erve order, many men
were well conducted, tAit the rajiine and violence con;rienccd by villain;, so.'ii spread, the camp-followe s
crowded into t!ie pl.ice. and the disorder c^-ntinucd until .lie iuimcs f.ilKv, inj^ tiie sttv of the plundeior put
an end to iiis ferocity by destroying; the wh.ile town."

m

20

ii

CAPTIVITY OF JOHN GVLES.

J (J!) not remember that ever lie offered me the least abuse afterwards, though
he was big enough to have despatched two of me.

CHAl'TKR IV.

Ol' I:KM ARKAlII.i: KVKNTS OF I'ROVIDENt.F. IN THK nKATIIS OF SKVKRAI,

llARHAKOUS INDIANS.

The |)riest of this river was of the order of St. Francis, a gentleman of a
humane, generous disposition.* In his sermons he most severely repre-
hended the Indians for their barbarities to ca[)tives. He would often tell
them that, exc.ej)tinL,f their errors in religion, the I''nglish were a better i)eoj)le
than themselves, and that (iod would remarkably punish such cruel wretches,
and had begun to execute his vengeance upon such already. He gave an
account of the retaliations of Providence upon those Cape Sable Indians
above mentioned ; one of whom got a splinter into his foot, which festered
and rotted his flesh till it killed him. Another run a fish-bone into her hand
or arm, and she rotted to death, notwithstanding all means that were used to
l)revent it. In some such manner they all died, so that not one of those two
families lived to return home.f Were it not for these remarks of the priest,
I had not, perhaps, have noticed these providences.

'I'here was an old Scjuaw who ever endeavored to outdo all others in
cruelty to ca])tives. Wherever she came into a wigwam, where any poor,
naked, star\'ed cajjtives were sitting near the fire, if they were grown persons,
she would stealthily take up a shovel of hot coals, and throw them into their
bosoms.:}: If they were young persons, she would seize them by the hand or
leg, drag them through the fires, &c. The Indians with whom she lived,
according to their custom, left their village in the fall of the year, and dis-

* F;»ther SiniDn .ippe.irs to h.nve been a man of much activity and enterprise as well

„ , , vwL» as religious zeal. Flis principal mission station was at Augpaque (Au-pa-ha, head

W^i ' M-i 0' I f] P ri "^^ '^"^ tide) on the west bank of the St. John River opposue .Savage Island, six

I \^^' (' 1 ''-^irAi \ miles above Fredericton. Father Simon took part in most of the expeditions against

'•'^^ '• — '' ^^ the English Settlements in King William's War. He brought 36 v/arriors from his

mission to aid in the defence of Fort Nashwaak in 1696 and he appears to have died
two or three years later, .as in Dec. 1698 Governor Villebon writes that " Father
.Simon is sick at Jemseg" .and his name does not occur aif.ain in the annals of the
time. Father Thury, who had beju priest of Penobscot, the Jesuit who wished to
ransom (iyles from his Indian Captors died in 16^9. In 1859 ^ heavy gold ring was
found among the ruins of Fort Nashwaak, which from the character of its design, seems to h.ave been the
property of an ecclesiastic. As ^^)rt Nashwaak w.as only occupied for about seven years, and as F'ather
Simon was almost the only priest who visited it, it is not unreasonable to conjecture that this ring belonged
to him. The anne.\ed fac simile of its design will give the reader an accurate idea of its appearance. It
w.as originally cut for Stewart's Quarterly to illustrate a paper by the writer on Fort Nashwaak.

t The belief in .Special Providences was one of the features of the Puritan Creed, and, as it was a belief
extremely flattering to human vanity, it survived in Massachussets long after much of the real Puritanism
of the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers had disappeared. In Ciovenor Winthrop's history and other
Purit.i.n writers of his age innumerable instances are quoted of God's regard to them, his chosen people.
But nowhere is this featiu'e of their creed more happily expressed than in a noble passage in Macaulay's
Essay on Milton, a portion of which we quote: — "On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests,
they looked down with contemot: for they esteemed themselves rich in a more precious treasure, and elo-
quent in a more sublime language, nobles by the right of an earlier creation, and priests by the imposition
of a mightier band. The very meanest of them was a being to who.se fate a mysterious and terrible import-
ance belonged -on whose slightest actions the spirits of light and darkness looked with anxious interest —
who had been destined, before heaven and earth were created, to enjoy a felicity which should continue
when he.iven and earth should have p.assed away. F3 vents which short-sighted politicians .ascribed to earthly
causes had been ordained on his account. For his sake empires iiad risen, and flourished, and decayed. For
his s.ake the Almighty had proclaimed his will by the pen of the evangelist and the harp of the prophet. He
had been rescued by no common deliverer from the gr,asp of no common foe. He had'neen ransomed by the
sweat of no vulgar agony, by the blood of no earthly sacrifice. It was for him that the sun had been
darkened, that the rocks had been rent, that the dead had arisen, that all nature h.ad shuddered at the suf-
ferings of her expiring God!

J All writers on Indian manners and customs admit that the women exceeded the men in cruelty to captives.
It is perh.nps owing to this fact that tht women were not always spared in Indian warfare.

CAFHVITY OF JOHN OVI.KS.

2\

pcrsecl themselves for luintiiv^'. After the first or second rciiioNal, ihcy all
strangely forgot that old s<iiia\v and her grandson, about twelve years of age.
They were found dead in the ])lace whe.e they were left some months after-
wards, and no farther notice was taken of them by their friends. Of this the
l)riest made sj)ecial remark, forasmuch as it is a thing very uncommon for
them to neglect either their old or young i)eo[)l<'.

In the latier part of summer, or beginning of autumn, the Indians were
frecjuently frightened by the appearance of strange Indians, passing up and
down this river in canoes, and about that time the next year died more than
one hundred persons, old and young; all, or most of those who saw those
strange Indians, The priest said it was a sort of plague. A person seei ing
in perfect health would bleed at the mouth and nose, turn blue in spots, and
die in two or three hours.* It was very tediotis to me to remove from [)la( e
to place this cold season. The Indians applied red ochre to my sores,
[which had been occasioned by the affray ()efore mentioned,] which by (lod's
blessing cured me. This sickness Ijeing at the worst as w inter came on, tin-
Indians all scattered; and the l)low was so great to them, that they did not
settle or plant at their village while I was on the river, [St. John,] and 1
know not whether they have to this day. I'efore thi:y thus deserted the vil-
lage, when they came in from hunting, they ».ould be drunk and tight for
several days and nights together, till tliey had spent most of their skins in
wine and brandy, which was brought to the village by a Frenchman called
Monsieur S/gc/iw/icvur.j

*There h.ave been several simil.'ir visitations of pestilence .Tnionj; the Indians ihninu tlie liistDiic peril nl.
For three or four years previous to tiie 'anding ofthe J*iigrim Fathers in 1620 a deadly malady Tai;ed aloiiii
thescaboard from Penobscot to Narragaiiset }!ay. Some tribes were nearly destroyed. The Massachusetts
were reduced from three tliousand to three hundred lighting men. and miles of coast whi<:h had been pojudous
were left without a single inhabitant. The pestilence mentioned by Oyles is mentioned in (lovernor Ville-
V)on's Journal and it appears to have swept over both Maine and New i^irunswick in 1693 and i^gj. The
Chief of the .St. John River died of it. It is impi)ssible of course, at this distance of time, to tril thee.vact
nature of this malady, but the symptoms recorded by Gyles are somewhat similar to those of the plague
which prevails in Kgypt. In Baker's Albert N'\'anza p. 333, it is stated that the most fatal symptom is vio-
lent bleeding at the nose, and that those thus taken are never known to recover.

t The proper name of this person was Rene' d'Amours, Sieur de Clignacourt, one of four brothers whci
came from Quebec to settle on the river St. John, about the year 1684. The d'.Annurs were originally fr'>ni
Hretagne. iMathieu the father was appointed one of the Councillors of the Province of (,)uebec in 166 <.
'I'he sons Rene', Louis, Mathieu, and Hernard .as soon as they grew up took to the woods and became
Cotorurs de hois or outlaws in the bush, a sort of cross between a ir.ader and a bandit j)eculiar to Canada,
the resMlt ofthe po/erty ofthe nobles and gentrj', and the meddling character ofthe government and ofthe
priests. To quote the language of Parkman "The Old Regime ni Canada" p. 309, ''All th.it was most
active and vigorous in the Colony took to the woods and escaped from the control of Intendants. councils
and priests, to the sav.age freedom of the wilderne.ss. Not only were the possible profits great, but in the
pursuit of them, there was a fascinating element of adventure and danger." The d'Amours were at one time
arrested fur their illegal trading but seem to have regained the favor of the government for in 1684 they re-
ceived large grants of land. Rene' had a grant ofthe territory on the River St. John from Medoctec to the
Loiunw Siiult, two leagues in depth on each side ofthe river. Louis had a grant ofthe River Richibucto,
one League of land on the South West side and as far as three leagues beyond the river Chibuctoiurhe, on
the other side, with the isles adjacent. Mathieu had a grant ofthe land alnng the River St John between
Gemesick and Nachouac, two leagues deep on each side ofthe river. In 1695, I'ernard received a grant of
the river Kanibecache. In reciting these grants I have followed the ancient mode of spelling but the reader
will easily recognize the places named. For some reason the d'Amotirs fell under the disijleasure of Gover-
nor Villebon, for writing of them in 1695, he says, "They are four ni number, living on the .St. John river.
'I'hey are given up to licentiousness and independence, for ten or twelve years they have been here. They
are disobedient and seditious and require to be watched." In another memoir it is .stated of the d'Amours
that though they have the best grants of land in the finest parts of the country they have hardly a place to lodge
in. They carry on no tillage, keep no cattle but live in trading with the Indians and debauch among them
m.aking large profits thereby but injuring the public good. In 1696 Villebon again writes " I have no more
reason my lord to Ije satisfied with the .Sieurs d'Amour than I previously had. The one that has come
from France has not pleased me more than the other two. Their minds are wholly spoiled liy iong licentious-
ness and the manners they have .acquired among the Indians; and they must be watched closely, as I had
the honor to state to you la.st year." Acadie was so full of cabals that even these positive statements of
Villebon must be taken with allowance. Two of the brothers certainly had permanent residences, and not
only goods iand cattle but wives also. Mathieu, whose title was Freneuse, resided on the eastern bank of
the .St. John opposite the mouth ofthe Oromocto. Louis, whose title was Chautfours, lived at the jiuiction
of the Jemseg with the .St, John. Mathieu d'Amours died of the fatigue and exposure he had to imdergo at
the .siege of fort Na.shwa.-ik in 1696. Of Louis d'Amours more will be related further on. Nothing recorded
of him by Gyles be.ars out any ofthe imputations cast upon him, in common with his brothers, by Vlllcl)on.

r.\J»TIVnV OF JOHN* CVLES.

CHAl'Tl'.K \'.

I !

<i|' rill.lK I'.WIII.AUI I "» Wllir .\NI> IKKHITS 1>'R' >M TIIK DKVII,, I.Ti*.

The Indians arc vory (jfti'ii suivriseil w ith the apjjearanee of ghosts and
demons. .Soinutiinos they are encouraged by the devil, for they go to him
for success in hiiiilin;^, .vc I was once hunting widi Indians wlio were not
brought over to the Ro'nish laiih., and after several d.iys Uicy i)roi)osed to
inijuire, according to their custom, what success they sl.ould have. They
accordingly prepared many hot stones, and hiying them in a heap, made a
small hut covered v.-ith skins and mats; then in a dark night two of the pow-
w »ws went into this h.Jt house with a large vessel of water, which at times
tinjy jioared on those hot rocks, v/hicli raised a thick steam, so that a thinl
Indian was ol)ligjd to stand with(;ut, and lift up a mat, to gi\e it vent when
they v>jre aliaost suffocated. There was an old sciuaw who was kind to cap-
tives, and never joined with them in their powwov.ing, to whom 1 manifested
an earnest desire to see their managem.ent. She told me that if they knew
of n^y being there they would kill me, and Uiat when she was a girl siie had
kno\vn young persons to be taken away by a hairy man, and therefore she
would not advise me to go, lest the hairy man should carry me away, I told
her I was not afraid of tlie hairy man, nor could he hurt me if she would not
discover me to the poww;)\\s. At length she jircnnised me she would not,
but ch;irged me to be carjful c;f myself. I went within three or four feet of
the hot house, for it was very dark, and heard strange noises and yellings.
such as I ne\ er lua.rd before. At tiuKS the Indian who tended without
would lift up Mk' mat, and a steam would issue which looked like fire. 1 lay
there two or three hours, but sav.- none of their hairy men, or demons.*
And when 1 found they liad iinislied their ceremony, 1 went to the wigwam,
and told the snuaw what had i>assed. She was glad 1 had escaped without
hurt, and never disco\ered what I had done. After some time inquiry wns
made of the |:ow\vows what success we were likely to have in our hunting.
They said they had very likely signs of success, but no real ones as at other
times. A lev/ days after we moved uj) the river, and had pretty good luck.

One a!ierno( a as I Vvas in a canoe with one of the powwows the dog
barked, and ])resently a moose passed by within a few- rods of us, so that the
wave' 'v' nm.de by v/ading rolled our canoe. The Indian shot at him, but the
\' very little notice of it, and went into the woods to the southward,
-id, "] will try if I can't fetch you l)ack for all your haste." The
ov.ing, we built our tv,o wigwams on a sandy point on the upper
> island in the ri'.er, north-west of the ])lace where the moose went
iiit ) the woods; and herv; the Indian ponwowed the greatest part of tlie night
f'lliowing. In tht> morning we had a fair track of a moose round our wig-
wan^s, thcnigh we ilid not see or taste of it. I am of opinion that the devil
v.as })ermitted. to humor those unhappy wretches sometimes, in some things. ■^

That it may appear how much they were deluded, or under the influences
of Satan, read the two stories which were related and believed by the In-

moc
Tl

(.•nd {

dianf

The hrst, of a bo^- ^\•ho was carried awav bv a larff'.i jjird called a

* J Ills .ii:c;nii'l wlili'li I iyles nivcs of tlic Iiuliaii method of invokliiu the dovil is very cm;oiis and shows
Iwv siii.;lit ;i hold lutlvioii:- fccliDg.s had upon tiio sav,i>.',e mind. All the Indian r;i<:fs aio ini.scialjly suiier-
stitiotis and stand in th^ .tjre.'itcst awe of evil spi its. Any sign whicli they nj.^ard as an unfavoiable omen
will tini! them back fruni the niist promising l;t.l(;r[)vi^.c. No d.'iiliL their w lilary life in the woods i.s to .1
larj;e e.MeiU rtsponsihic fur this trait of Indian cluira(,ter.

t This iast t(nu;h ahonl the ilcvii being permitted "to h.iinu;r these inihappy wretches" is cx'.p'.isite, as a
.-a'.-ip'c 'ii'lhe sr.j.eis;!: ii u.i ! eliej i:f :',v;j leatlirit.'; ago.

.^sts and
to him
vcrc not
losed to
, They
made a
:hc pow-
at times
; a third
:nL when
1 to cap-
in ifestud
icy knew
siic had
;fore she
, I told
ould not
DuUl not,
ir feet of
yelhngs,
i widiout
:e. 1 lay
[lemons.*
wigwam,
1 without
ijuiry wns
liunting.
s at other
)od liuk.
the dog
D that the
n, but the
jutlnvartl.
te." The
die upper
)0sc went
■ the night
our Avig-
the devil
e things.•^
iiiHuenccs
>y the In-
railed a

lis and shows
scraljly super-
ivoiable oiTH-.i

v/ooiis i.4 to .1

cxm'.tsite, as a

CAPTlVnV OF JOHN ovr.Ks.

23

(hillouii, wlu) huildelh her nest on a high rock or mountain. A l)o\ was
hunting with his how and arrow at the foot of a rocky moimtiiln. when the
gulloua came diving through the air, grasped the boy in her takMis, and al-
though he \Vas eight or ten yer.rs of age, she soart-d nioft nnd laid him in her
nest, food f(jr her young. 'J"he boy lay still on his iM^:. l)Ut observed two (.f
the young i)irds in the nest with him, having nuuh fish ;mk1 flesh t feed upon.
The old one seeing they would not eat the boy, took him up \\\ her claws
and returned him to the place from whence she took him, 1 have passed
near the mountain in a canoe, nnd the Indians ha\t' said. " I'hero is the
nest of the great birtl that carried away the boy." Indeed thert.* seemed to
be a great number of sticks put together like a nest on the top of the moun-
tain. At another time they said, "There is the bird, but he is now as a boy
to a giant to what he was in former da\s." The bird which we saw wns a
large and speckled one, like an eagle, though somev/hat larger.*

When fnmi tlic mouiUiiiii tops, \vi''i liidc'oiis cry , :, , ,

Ami cI:\Uoriii}^ ' in_<;.s, tlic hungry h.ai];ics (1y, ' ' '

They snatched " * * » ' * v,.: , •;,■ ,;,,■;.'!/

* * And whether ;^(kis or birds obscene they were,
Our vows for pardon and for peace i)rerer,

Dkvdkn's \'(K.iai..

The other notion is, that a young Indian in his hunting was belated, and
losing his way, was on a sudden introduced to a large wigwam full of dried
eels, whic:h proved to be a beaver's house, in which he lived till the spring of
the year, ^hen he was turned out of the house, and being set Uj^on a beaver's
dam, went home and related the affair to his friends at large.

CHAPTER VI.

A niCSCRIPTIO.N OF SEVKRAL CRKATURKS COMMONi V TAKEN llV THi: INDIANS

ON ST. JOHNS RIVER.

I. Of the Beaver. — The beaver has a very thick, strong neck; his fore
teeth, which are two in the upper and two in the under jaw, are concave and
sharp like a carpenter's gouge. Their side teeth are like a shcejj's, for they
chew the cud. 'i'heir legs are short, the claws something longer than in
other creatures. The nails on the toes (jf their hind feet are flat like an ape's
but joined together by a membrane, as those of the water-fowl, their tails
broad and flat like the broad end of a paddle. Near their tails they have
four bottles, two of which contain oil, the others gum ; the necks of these
meet in one common orifice. The latter of these bottles contain the proper
castomm, and not the testicles, as some have fancied, for they are distinct
and separate from them, in the males only ; whereas the castorum and oil
bottles are common to male and female. With this oil and gum they preen
themselves; so that when they come out of the water it runs off of them, as it
does from a fowl. They have four teats, which are on their breasts, so that
diey hug up their young and suckle them, as women do their infants. They
have generally two, and sometimes four in a litter. I have seen seven or
five in the matrix, but the Indians think it a strange thing to find so many
in a litter; and they assert that when it so happens the dam kills all but four.

■ The belief in the existence of birds of enormous size was common among all tmcivilized people in the old
world, and the reader may see in this an illustration of the universality of traditions, and a proof of the
Eastern origin of our abongines. The fabled Roc of the Arabian Nights finds its counterpart in the tra-
ditions of ths West.

■I

n

^

m

m

24

CAPTIVITY OF JOHN GYLES.

Ill''

llli

iiiiir

|1 1,

m

Tiicy arc the most laborious creatures that I have met with. I have known
them to build dams across a river, thirty or forty i)erches wide; with wood and
n^.ud, so as to flow many acres of land. In the deepest part of 0. pond so
laised, they build their houses, round, in the figure of an Indian wigwam,
eiglit or ten le.'t high, and six or eight in diameter on the floor, which is
made descentling to the water, the parts near the centre about four, and near
the circumference between (• and twenty indies above the water. These
floors are covered with striiipings of wood, like shavings, On these they
sleej) with their tails in the water; and if the freshets rise, they have the
rd-vantage of rising on their floor to the highest part. They feed on the
leaves and bark of trees, and pond lily roots. In the fall of the year they
lay in their provisions for the apj^roaching winter; cutting down trees great
and small. With one end in their mouths they drag iheir branches near to
their house, and sink many cords of it. (They will cui [gnaw] down trees of
a fathom in cir':uryifercnce.) 'i'hey have doors to go down to the wood
under the ice. And in case the freshets rise, break down and carry off their
store of wood, they often starve. They have a note for conversing, calling
and warning each other when at work or feeding; and while they are at la-
bor they keep out a guard, who upon the first approach of an enemy so
strikes the water with his tail that he mav be heard half a mile. This so
alarms the rest th it they arc all silent, quit their labor, and are to be seen no
more for that time. If the male or female die, the survivor seeks a mate,
and conducts him or her to their house, and carry on affairs as above.

2. Of the Wolverene. \GhIo Luscus of L.] The woiverene is a very fierce
and mischievous creatuie, about the bigness of a middling dog; having .sliort
legs, broad feet and very sharp "laws, and in my oj^inion may be recko ed a
sjiecies of cat. They will climb trees and wait for moose and other animals
which feed below, and when o])portunity presents, jump upon and strike their
claws in them so fiist that they will hang on them till they have gnawed the
main nerve in their neck asunder, which causes their death. I have known
many moose killed tiius. I was once travelling a little way behind several
Indians, and hearii'gthem laugh merrily, when I came up I asked them the
cause of their laughter. They showed me the track of a moose, and how a
wolverene had climbed a tree, and where he had jumped off upon a moose.
It so happened, that after the moose had taken several large leaps, it came
under the branch of a tree, which striking the wolverene, broke his hold and
tore him off; and by his tracks in the snow it appeared he went off another
way, with short steps, as if he had been stunned by die blow that had broken
his hold. The Indians imputed the accident to the cunning of the moose,
and were wonderfully pleased that it had thus outwitted die mischievous
wolverene.

These wolverenes go into wigwams which have been left for a time, scatter
the things abroad, and most filthily pollute them with ordure. I have heard
the Indians say that this animal has sometimes pulled their guns from under
their heads while they were asleei), and left them so defiled. An Indian told
me that having left his wigwam with sundry things on the scaffold, among
which was a birchen flask containing several pounds of powder, he found at
his return, much to his surprise and grief, that a wolverene had visited it,
mounted the scaffold, hove down bag and baggage. The powder flask hap-
|)ening to f;ill into the fire, exploded, blowing up the wolverene, and scat-

tering the wigwam in all directions.

At length he found the creature, blind

CAFriVI'JV Ol' JOHN GYLES.

25

; known
Dod and
pond so
A'igwam,
^vhich is
ind near

These
ese they
lave the
I on the
•ear they
jes great
s near to
1 trees of
he wood
• off their
g, calHng
ire at la-
inemy so

This so
e seen no
s a mate,
ve.

'ery fierce
ving sliort
xko ed a
lY animals
[rike their
lawed the
vc known
id several

them the
.nd how a

a moose.
)s, it came

hold and

ff another
ad broken

le moose,
ischievoiis

ne, scatter
iwe heard
om under
ndian told
Id, among
e found at
visited it,
tlask hap-
and scat-
ture. blind

from the blast, wandering backward and forward, and he had the satisfaction
of kicking and beating him about. This in a great measure made up their
loss, and then they could contentedly i)ick up their utensils and rig out their
wigwam.

3. Of the Ih'dgc/ii\^, \^Histrix Dorsata, or Urchin, UrsonT\ Our hedge-
hog or urchin is about the bigness of a hog of six months old. His back,
sides and tail arc fullof sharp (luills, so that if any creature apjiroach him,
he will contract himself into a globular form, and when touched by his enemy,
his quills are so sharp and loose in the skin they fix in the mouth of the
adversary, 'i'hey will strike with great fierce with their taib:^ so that whatever
falls under the lash of them are certainly filled with their prickles; but that
they shoot their quills, as some assert they do, is a great mistake, as respects
the American hedgehog, and I believe as to the African hedgehog or porcu-
[)ine, also. As to the former, I have taken them at all seasons of the year.

4. Of the Tortoise. It is needless to descri!)e the fresh-water tortoise,
whose form i.i so well known in all ])arts; but their manner of propagating
their species is not so universally known, I have observed that sort of tor-
toise whose shell is about fourteen or sixteen inches wide. In their coition
they may be heard half a mile, making a noise like a woman washing her
linen with a batting staff. They lay their eggs in the sand, near some deej),
still water, about a foot beneath the surfiice of the sand, with which they are
very curious in covering them; so that there is not the least mixture of it
amongst them, nor the least rising of sand on the beach where they are de-
posited. I have often searched for them with "Ik} Indians, by thrusting a
stick into the sand at random, and brought up some part of an egg clinging
to it; when, uncovering the place, we have found near one hundred and fifty
in one nest. Both their eggs and flesh are good eating when boiled. 1
have observed a difference as to the h^igth of time in which they are hatch-
ing, whljh is between twenty and thirty days; some sooner than others.
Whether this difference ought to be irnjnited to the various ([uality or site of
the sand m which they are laid, (as to the degree of cold or heat,) I leave to
the conjecture of the virtuosi. As soon as they are hatched, the young tor-
toises break through the sand and betake themselves to the water, and, as
far as I could discover, \\idiout any further care or helj) of the old ones.

CHAP TER VII.

OK THEIR FK.\SriN(I. 1U:F0KK TIIKV lIO TO WAR.

When the Indians determine on war, or are entering upon a particular
expeditic ., they kill a number of their dogs, burn off the hair and cut ihcm
to pieces, leaving only one dog's head whole. The rest of the flesh they boil,
and make a fine feast of it. Then the dog's head that was left whole is
>t orched, till the nose and lips have shrunk from the teeth, leaving them bare
and grinning. This done, they fasten it on a stick, and the Indian who is
proposed to be chief in the expedition takes the head into his hand, and sings
a warlike song, in which he mentions the town they design to attack, and the
principal man in it; threatening that in a few days he will carr}- that man's
head and scalp in his hand, in the same manner. \\'hen the chief has finished
singing, he so places the dog's head as to grin at him who he supposes will
go his second, who, if he accepts, takes the head in his hand and sings: but

i'f

20 CAPTIVriY OF JOHX GVLES,

if lu; refuses to go, he turns tlie teetli to another; and tluis from one to
another till they have enlisted their company.*

'i'he Indians imagine that dog's Hesh makes them bold and courageous.
\ have seen an Indian s]>lit a d')g's head v/ith a hatchet, take out the l)rains
hot, and eat them raw with the l)l()od running down his jaws.

When a relation dies . In a still evening, a squaw will wall: on the high-
est land near her abode, and with a loud and mournful vo'^e will exclaim,
" O hauH% /laioe, //<?7ir," with a long, mournfal tone to each /icnce, for a long
time together.! After the mourning season is over, the relations of the de-
ceased make a feast to wipe off tears, and the bereaved may marry freely.
If the deceased was a scjuaw, the rehitions consult together, and choose a
S([uaw, (doul)tless a widow,) and send her to the widower, and if he likes her
he takes her to be his wife, if not, he sends her back, and the relations c:hoose
and send till they find one that he approves of.

If a young fellow determines to marry, his relations and the Jesuit advise
him to a girl. He goes intj the wigwam where she is, and looks on her. \\
he likes her appearan'.^, he tosses a chip or stick into her lap, which she takes,
and with a reserved, side look, views the person who sent It ; yet handles the
chip with admiration, as though she wondered from whence it came. If she

I m.

* Tlie sacrilicc of ;i Doj; was (.'insideied the most valuable offering they could make to appease .in an,iTy
Manitoii. As an ilhiKtration of this, as well as i>( smne other Indian superstitions, I quote from the narra-
tive of Ak'xander Henry's Cajstivity among the Indians in 1763 the following account of what followed his
discovery of .1 rattlesnake on one of their landings while sailing down Lake Huron. Henry was made a
prisoner at the capture of F'ort Michilimackinac, and his narrative is one oi the best written and most
interesting tales of sutTeving ever jmljlished ; " I no sooner saw the snake than 1 hastened to the canoe, in
order to procure my gun : but the fiidian.-,, observing what I was d<iing, inquired the <iccasion, and being
informed, begged nie to desist. At the same time ihey followed me'to the spot, with their pipes and tobac-
i-o-pouches In their hands. On returning, I found the snake still coiled. 'J'he Indians, or. their part,
surrounded it, all addressing it by turns and calling it \.hp\r i^ rand/a t/n'r; but yet keeping at some distance.
During this part of the ceremony they filled their pipes ; and each blew it towards the snake, wh", as it
:il)pearcd to me, really received it with pleasure. In a word, after remaining coiled, a-.id receiving ini;ense,
lor the space of half an hour, it stretched itself along the giound in visible goi^d humor. It. length was
lieiween four and five feet. Having remained outstretched for some time, at last it moved slowly away, the
Indians following it, and still addressing it by the title of grandfather, beseeching it to take care of their
families during their absence, and to be pleased to open the heart of Sir V/illiani Johnson, so that he might
x/imv thciii charity, and fdl their canoe with rum One o' the chiefs added a petition that the snake would
take no notice of ti;; insult which had been olTered him >y the Knglishman, who would have put him to
death but for the interference of the Indians, to whom is \.as hoped he would impute no pau of the offence.

I'hey further requested that he would remain and inhabit their country, and not return among the English,
lliat is, go ea'.tward. After t'lie rattlesnake had gone, I learned that this was the first time that an individual
of the species had been seen so far to the northward and westward of the river I)es Francais; a circumstance
moret)ver, from which my companions were dispos:;d to infer that this inunitii had come or been sent on pur-
I'ose to meet them; that his errand had been no other than to stop them on their way; and that consecpientlv
it would be most advisable ti return to the point r,f departure. I was so fortunate, however, as to prevail
yith them to embark; and at six o'clock in the evening we again encamped. Veiy little was spoken of
through the * vening, the rattlesnake e.vcepted. E.irly the next morning we proceeded. We had a serene
sky and very little wind, and the Inci.ans therefore determined on steering across the lake to an island which
just ap|)earea in the hori/on; sa-, ing, by this course, a distance of thirty miles, which would be lost in kee)i-
ing the shore. At nine o'clock, A. Vl, we had a light breeze astern, to enjoy the benefit of which we hoisteil
sail. Soon after '"■ wind iiicrea-.-'d, and the Indians, beginning to be alarmed, frequently called on the
rattlesnake to con .0 their assistance. Uy degrees the waves grew nigh; and at eleven o clock it blew a
hurricane, and we expected every moment to l)e swallowed up. From prayers the Indians now proceeded
to sacrifices, botl. alike ottered to the god rattlesnake, or vtanito kviibic. One of the chiefe took a dog, and
after tying its fore legs together threw it overboard, at the .same lime calling on the snake to preserve us
froi'i being drowned, and desiring him to satisfy his hunger with the carcass of the dog. The snake was
unpropitious, and the wind increased. Another chief sacrificed another dog, with the addition of .some to-
bacco. In the prayer which .^v-Companied these gifts, he besought the snake, as before, not to avenge upon
the Indians the insult which he had received from myself, in the concei)tion of a design to put him to death.

He assured th.e snake that i was absolutely an Englishman, a' \ of kin neither to him nor to them. At the
conclusion of this speech, an IndiaVi who sat near me observed, that if we were drowned it would be for m',-
fault alone, and that I ought my.self to )e sacrificed, to appease the ang y inanito; nor was I without appre-
hensions that in case of extremity this v.-ould be my fate; but, happily for me, tlic storm .it length alxitcd,
and we reached the island safely. '

t Lescarbot gives an account of th.e funeral obsequies of P.-.nnouiac, a Micn..ic chiei, vho was killed )• the

\mouchi(iuois in 1607. He w;^s first brought bat k io St. '. roix, whtre the savages wept .nndemb.alnied him.

They then took him to Port Royal, where, toi eight days, they howled lus'ily over his remains. Then they
went to his hut and burnt it up witli its content,: dogs ircluded, so as to save qu.arreling imong his relations
as to the property. The bod >■ was left in the cusii.dy of the parents until spring, wlun he was Iwwail.d
.igain, and laid in a new grave near (,"apc Sable, along with pipes, knives, axes, otter-skins and pots.

CAl'llXi'lA OF JOHN GVI.ES.

27

jne to

LgCOUS.

brains

hig]^-

xclaira,
a long
the de-
' freely,
loose a
kes her
choose

t advise
ler. If

le takes,

dies the

If she

se ail aiijirv
a the narra-
bllowed his
vas made a
n and most
he caruie, in
, and being
s and tobac-
thelr part,
ne distance.
;, who, as It
ipg ini;ense.
length was
y away, the
are of their
;it he might
inake woukl
put him to
tlie offence,
he En^lisli,
individual
ircumstance
sent on pur-
mse(iuently
to prevail
spoken of
Lul a serene
stand which
list in keep-
we lioiste'l
ailed on the
ck it blew a
pro( ceded
k a doj;, and
preserve us
e snake was
of some to-
veiige upon
im to death,
ni. At the
d be for tny
thout appre-
^th aV'atod,

killed )• the
balnied him.
'I'hen they
his relations
^■as l)ewail-d

).OlS.

likes him slie throws tlie chip to him with a modest smile, and then noth.ig
is wanting but a ceremony witli the Jesuit to consumniale the n^arriage. But
if she dishkes her suitor, she, with a surly coui.tenance, thri>ws the (hij) aside.
and he comes no more there.

If parents have a daughter marriageable they seek a 1/Usband for her who
is a good hunter. If she has been educated lo make mcnoodah^ (Indian bags)
birch dishes, to lace snow-shoes, make Indian shoes, siring \\;n"ni)ura belts,
sew birch canoes, and boil the kettle, she is esteemed a lady of fine a«:complish.-
ments. If the man sought out for husband have a gun and ammunition, a
canoe, spL'ar, and hatchet, a monoodah, a crooked knife, looking glass and
{)aint, a i)ii)e, tobacco, and knot-bo7,l to toss a kind of dice in, he is account-
ed a gentleman of a plentiful fortune. A\'hntevt.r the new-mavried man ])rc-
cures the first year belongs to his wife's jjarents. Jf the young j'-air have a
child within a year and nine month.s, tl^ey are thought t<j be very forward and
libidinous persons.

liy their j)lay with dice they lose much time, playing v tiole days and raghts
t(igether; sometimes staking their whole efrecls: though this is accounted a
great vice by the old men.

A (f/g/rssich/.- -There is an old story told among ihe Indiiins of a family who
had a daughter that was accounted a finished beauty, having been adorned
with the precious jewel, an Indian L\ducation. She was so formed by nature,
and polished by art, that they could not find for her a suitable consort. At
'ength, while this family were once residing ui)on the head of Penobstot
river, under the White hills, called lalcioii, this fine creature v,a;i missing, and
iier i^arents could learn no tidings of her. After much time and pains s])ent.
and tears showered in quest of her they saw her diverting herself with a
beautiful youth, whose hair, like her own, flowed dow-n below his waist, swim-
ming, washing, cS:c., in the water; but they finished uiH)n their ap[)roach.
This beautiful person, whom they imagined to be one of tliose kind spirits
who inhabit the Teddon, they looked upon as their son-in-law: and, accord-
ing to their custom, they called ui)on him for moose, bear, or whatever
creature they desired, and if they did but go to the Asater-side and signify
their desire, the animal \rould come swimming to them. I have heard an
Indian say that he lived by the river, at the foot of the 'I'eddon, the top of
which he could see through the hole of his wigwam left for the smoke to pas^
out. He was tempted to travel to it, and accordingly set out on a summer
morning, and lal)ored hard in ascending the hill all day, and the top seemed
as distant from the place where he lodged at night as from iiis wigwam, where
he began his journey. He now concluded the spirits were there, and never
diired to make a second attempt.

I have been credibly informed that several others have failed in like at
tempts. Once three young men climbed towards i*,s summit three days and
a half, at the end of which time they became strangely disordered with de-
lirium, &c., and when tlieir imagination was clear, anil the> could recollect
where they were, they found themsehes returned one day's journey. How
they ca.ne to be thus transported they could not conjecture, unless the genii
of the place had con\eyed them. 'I'hese White hills, at the head of Penob-
.scot river, are, by the Indians, said to be nnu h higher than those called
Agiockochook, above Saco.

But to return to an Indian feast, of whi< h you may leiiuest a bill of fore
before you gu. If you dislike it, stav at hoine. Tlie ingredients are fish,

-,;.fTM-,'WT1?

28

CAPTIVITY OK JOHN (IVI.KS.

flesh, or Indian corn, and Ijeans boiled together; sometime •■ hasty pudding
made of pounded corn, whenever and as often as these are plenty. An
Indian boils four or five large kettles full, and sends a messenger to each
wigwam door, who exclaims, ''/w/// mmscoorcbaJi I'' that is, "I come to con-
duct you to a feast." The man within demands whether he must take a spoon
or a knife in his dish, which he always carries with him. They appoint two
or three young men to mess it out, to each man his portion, according to the
number of his family at home. This is done with the utmost exactness.
W'lien they have done eating, a young fellow stands without the door, and
cries aloud, '■'■Mcnscconnnook^'' "come and fetch," immediately each scjuaw
goes to her husband and takes \Ahat he has left, which she carries home and
eats with her children. For neither m^arried women, nor any youth under
twenty, are allowed to be present; but old widow squaws and captive men
may sit by the door. The Indian, men continue in the wigwam; some re-
lating their warlike exi>loits, others something comical, otliers narrating their
hunting exploits. 'I'he seniors give maxims of prudence and grave counsel
to the young men • and though every one's speech be agreeable to the run of
his own fancy, yet they confine themselves to rule, and but one speaks at a
time. After every man has told his story, one rises up, sings a feast song,
and others succeed alternately as the company sees fit.

Necessity is the mother of invention. If an Indian loses his fire, he can
presently take two sticks, one harder than the other, (the drier the better,)
and in the softest one make a hollow, or socket, in which one end of the hard-
est stick being inserted, then holding the softest piece firm between the
knees, whirls it round like a drill, and fire will kindle in a few minutes.

If they have lost or left their kettle, it is but putting their victuals into a
birch dish, leaving a vacancy in the middle, filling it with water, and putting
in hot stones alternately; they will thus thoroughly boil the toughest neck of
beef.

CHAPTER Vlll.

Oh' MV TllRKE VKARS CAI'TIVITV WITH I'UK 1-RENCH,

When about six years of my doleful captivity had passed, my second In-
dian master died, whose sc^uaw and my first Indian master disputed whose
slave I should be. Some malicious persons advised them to e/id the quar-
rel by putting a period to my life ; but honest father Simon, the priest of the
river, told them that it would be a heinoup crime, and advised them to sell
me to the PYench. There came annually one or two men of war to supply
the fort, which was on the river about 34 leagues from the sea.* The Indians
having advice of the arrival of a man of war at the mouth of the rivcr, they,
about thirty or forty in number, went on board, for the gentlemeri from
France .made a present to them every year, and set forth the riches and vic-
tories of their monarch, &:c. At this time they presented the Indians with a
bag or two of flour with some prunes, as ingredients for a feast. I, who was
dressed up in an old greasy blanket, without cap, hat, or shirt, (for I had had
no shirt for the six years, except the one I had on at the time I was made
prisoner,) was invited into the great cabin, where many well-rigged gentlemen

• The fort spoken of here was ^ort Nashw.i.ik, which was occupied by Villcbon, and was the head quarters
of the government of Acadie from 1692 to 1609. It stood on the eastern bank of the Ft. John, at its junction
^vith the Nashwaak River, nearly opposite f'redericton.and on the northern side of the latter river. It was
an ordinary pallisadei fort with four bastions, and had eight cannon mounted. Some tracer of it are stiH
visible.

CAPiivnv OK John c.vf.ks.

29

were sitting, who would fain have had a full \iew of me. 1 cndea\x>ret! to
hide myself behind the hangings, for I was much ashamed; thinking iiow I
had once worn elotlies, and of my Hving with ])eoi)le who could rig as well as
the best of them. My master asked me whether I chose to be sold to the
])eo])le of the man of war, or to the inhabitants of tiie countr}'. I replied,
with tears, that I should be glad if lie would sell me to the ''"jiglish from
whom I was taken ; but that if I must be sold to the Fvnch, I wished to be
sold to the lowest inhabitants on the river, or those nearest to the .sea, who
were about twenty-five leagues from the mouth of thf river; for 1 thought
that, if I were sold to the gentlemen in the ship, i should never return to the
Knglish. '['his was the first time I had seen the sea during my cajjtivily, and
the first time I had tasted salt or bread.

My master presently went on shore, and a few days after all the Indians
went up the river. When we came to lyhouse which 1 had s])oken to my
master about, he went on shore wnth me, and tarried all night. The master
of the house spoke kindly to me in Indian, for I could not then speak one
word of French. Madam also looked pieasant on me, and gave me some
bread. The next day I was sent six leagues further uj) the river to another
French house. * My master and the friar tarried with M onsieur I )echouffour. t
the gentleman who had entertained us the night before. Not long after,
father Simon came and said, "Now )ou aY>: one of us, for you are sold to
that gentleman by whom you were entertained the other night." I re[)lied,
•'Sold! — to a Frenchman!" 1 could say no more, went into the woods alone,
and wept til! I could scarce see or stand. The word soM, and that to a
people of that persuasion which my dear mother so much detested, and in her
last words manifested so great fears of my falling into. These thoughts al-
most broke my heart.

When I had thus given vent to my grief I wiped my eyes, endeavoring to
conceal its effects, but father Simon, perceiving my eyes swollen, called me
aside, and bidding me not to grieve, for the gentleman, he said, to whom 1
was sold, was of a good humor; that he had formerly bought two captives,
l)0th of whom had been sent to Boston. This, in some measure, revived me ;
but he added he did not sui)pose I .vould ever wish to go to the English, for
the French religion was so much better. He said, also, he should pass that
way in about ten days, and if I did not like to live with the French better
than w^ith the Indians he would buy me again. On the day following, father
Simon and my Indian master went u}) the river, six and thirty leagues, to their
chief village, and I went down the river six 'eagues with two Frenchmen to
my new master. He kindly received me, and in a few days madam made me
an osnaburg shirt and French cap, and a coat out of one of my master's old
coats. Then I threw away my greasy blanket and Indian flap, and looked

This last French house spoken of by Clyles w.as ilou)jtless that of Mathiuii d'Amoiirs de Freneiisc \vhi>
lived on the east side of the St, John, opposite the mouth of the Oromocto River. His wife v\'as named
Louise Ouyon; sne was a sister of the wife of f/ouis d'Amours who was afterwards so kind to (.iyles.
Mathieu d'Amours died from exposure after the siege of P'ort Nashwaak. His wif<; afterwards removed to
Port Royal, where she caused some scandal by an intrigue with the comm.indant Honaventure, which was
the means of filling the despatches to the French Minister with references to her conduct. Finally in
July 1708, agreeably to orders from France, Madam de Freneuse was sent to Quebec, where both her own
.ind her_ husband's families belonged.

t Louis d'Amours de Chauffr.v..:r;-. v.as the oldest of the four brothers who resided in Acadie and who havi-
tieen already mentioned in a former n )te. He was Iwrn in 1654 ^f"^ lived on the St. John River at tiie
mouth of the Jemseg from 1684 to i7a-5. His wife's name was Marguerite Guyon. .She was a sister of
Madam de Freneuse. The (luyons were from the Province of Quebfc. Koth Louis d'Amours and his
wife seem to have been very kind to (Jyles, and his libenition without any ransom was certainly a generous
action. In 1705, F.ouis d'.\mours was ,1 prisoner in Boston and had been for nearly two years. Afttr this
»'.\.' lose sight of him. It is likely that allthe family finally returned to Quebec.

iff

.>o

as smarl as

cAi'i i\ rr\' ()!• |i .!i\ (iS i.r.s.

And I never more saw the old friar, the Iinliaii \ illage, or
tny Indian master, till lilrout. fourteen years after, when I saw my old Indian
master at Tort Royal, whither 1 had l)een sent by the {government with a (lag
of triux' f(;r the ex;-hange of jirisoners : and again, al)out twenty four years
s;n'-c. he came from St. John, to fort Ceorge, lo see me. where f made hijn
\erv wel( ome.

M\- iMvnch master held a great trade v»ilh the Indians, which suited me
\ery well, I hieing th;)rough in the languages of the tribes at Ca{)e Sable and
St. John.

I had not lived long with this gentleman before he co;nmitted to me the
keys of his store, 6v'c.. and my whole emi;loyment was trading and hunting.
i:i which I acted faillifully for my master, and ne\er, kiiowingl}', Vrfonged him
to the value of one farthini:.

They spoke to me so much in Indian that it was some time before I was
perfect in the I'Yench tongue. Monsieur generally had his goods from the
:n.:n-of-war which came there annually from France.

In the year 1696, two meii-cjf-war came to the mouth of the river. In their
way they l:ad cajjlured the Newport, Cajjtain Payson, and brought him with
them. They mad..- tlie Indians some pre.sents, and invited them to join in
an e.x])edition to Pemrirajuitl. They accepted it, and soon after arrived there.
Cajjt. Chubb, who cnimaruled that j.)Ost, delivered it up without much dis-
])ute to Monsieur I )'Il;erville, as I heard the gentleman say, Avith whom I
lived, v,ho was there i)resent.*

Karly in th.e spring I uas sent with three Frenchmen to the mouth
of the ri\er, for jjrovisions, which came from Port Royal. We carried
over land fr;3m the river to a large bay, where we were driven on an island
by a north-east storm, where we were kept seven days, without any susten-
ance, for we expected a ([uick passage, and carried nothing with us. The
wi'id contimied boisterous, we could not return back, and the ice prevented
our going forv.ard. After seven days the ice broke u\) and we went forward,
thougli we w ere so weak that we I'ould scar(-e hear each other sj)eak. The
peo})!e at the mouth of the river were .surprised to see us alive, and advised
us to be cautious and abstemious in eatins/. Pv this time 1 knew as much of
lasting as they, and dieted on l)roth, and recovered very well, as did one of
the others; Init the other two would not ])e advised, and I iiever saw any
persons in greater distress, till at length they had action of the bowels, when
they recovered.!

A fri'ir, wh.o lived in the famib;, invited me to confession, but I excused

1

i' ■

i

'.\i •

"^ ^'l)Tt W illi.iin Hurry .it l'c'iuii.a(|uii.t was the slroni;f-t w.nk wliicli the J'',ii,4lish Colonists liad up to tiuit
linitjci<;(:i(;(i in Aiiici ii.a. it was on tlie site of titc old fort, at tlie same place, spol;eii of ilia formernote, and
siliKiicd ;ili(.in t\\.;;il y roil'- al'ove ln.,'li water mark. !t wa.s i.-iuirely new, havm.i; l>ei... biiill in ifcj-j :it the
cost of Ma.s^arlui>etts. 'I'he f ivt w.is a tiuadranule io8 feet across, or in compass 7,(7 feet; its walls were of
•''one, ceiaenled in lime mortar, their height «n tlie south side facintf the .sea lieing i;-' feet, on the west 18,
th.e north 10 and on ihe east 12 feet. The round tower at the South West corner was 2g feet hi;; h.
',ht feet from the tsround. where the walls were six feet thick, there was a tier of 28 port holo.s. .Si.\tte;l

nioii wvre iiiDiiiitcd in\ its walls. U cost ^2o.«xi tf) hiiild it and took upwards of 2coo cart loads ofsti-iie;
as it was well iiuuined, provisioned, and suj;plied with niilitaiy stores, besides being almost surrounded
b,. :ie tiilt at liiuh u.-iter. it w.is th..\ijjhi to be impregnable. Captain Chubb was in command of it and he
hiul a g.iirisoii of yt, i„i.m. (lo'.ernor Villebon regarded it as a menace to Acadio and resolved to capture
and destroy it, if possible. An expedilioi' for that purpose was placed under tlie comm.ind of d'Ujerville.
It >:onsiKled ofabout Oo f'reiulimen, a number of hulian-fri lu the St Johii River, and 130 Penobscot Indians
•'.-.-.Jcr St. Casline. M. Thury and Father Simon were at the siege. The fort was invested on the r4th
August i6y6, and surrendered on the follow ing day. 'the prisoners, agreeably to the terms of the c.ipitu-
lati^<>n. w t-re ta'<en to lioston in .\ vessel belonging to T.ouis d'.Xmoiirs, and the fort demolished. The people
of New llngLmd were gie.vJy eiir..g,:.l at the destrurtioii ..f their w:ost!y fort and at the cowardice of Chub!)
>'hi. surrendered it scj easily.

* 'flie Jslarid on w! i( h • iyles aMi'. liis coin]iaiiioiis were driven .ind s(> ne.irl> sianed to de.ith, w;:s 1.0
<I •'.lb', either Kenne'i m rv>' Mn;,;; .y j,,,,,^ Island i:i l!ie K.tniic!-c. a-i-^. i r<'bai'!y the latter.

m \illagi.', or
y old Indian
lit with a ihii.
[y four years
c I made him

rh suited me
[)C Sable and

.'d to me the
and hunting,
Y.ronged him

before i was
lods from the

k-er. In their
itlht him with
em to jom m
arrived there.

;.)ut much dis-
with whom I

o the mouth
We carried

on an island
It any susten-
eiih us. The
ice prevented
went forward,
)eak. The
, and advised
w as muc:h of

IS did one of
ever saw any
bowels, when

CAPTIVITY OF JOHN t.\i I.S.

31

t f excused

)U

jii-its liatl up to that

1 ;i Airuicr note, and

i\ii!t in 1U)'^ at tlit

■l; its walls were of

.'ci, on the west iS,

■v\ as ZQ feet hi;;li.

lit In lies. Sixteen

.art loads of sl"iie:

alinnst surrounded

iunand of it and he

esolved to cai)lurfc

uind of d'Ujerville.

^Penobscot Indian^

vested on the i4tli

iiiis of the caijllu-

ished. 'J'he people

owardice of C'huM)

il to death. v.;:s 1 .1
att'-r.

m\ self as well as 1 ((juld at that Unie. One evening lie took me into his
apartment in the dark and advised me to confess to liim what sins I had com-
mitted. I told him 1 could not remember a thousandth I'arl of them, the\
were so numerous. Then he bid me remember and 'vlate as many as I
could, and he would jvirdon them; signifying he had a bag to jnit them in.
I told him I did not l)elieve it was in the power of any but (iod to pardon
sin. He asked me whether I had read the Hible. I told him 1 had, when
1 was a little boy, but it was so long ago 1 had forgotten most of it. Then
he told me he did not i>ardon my sins, l)Ut when he knew them he ora)ed to
(iod to pardon them; when, ])erhai;s, 1 was at my sjjorts and j^Iays. He
wished me well and ho])ed I should be better advised, and said he should
call for me in a little time. Thus he dismissed me, nor did he ever call me
to confession afterwards.

The gentleman with whom T lived had a fine field of wheat, in whi<h great
numbers of black-birds continually collected and made great hav(j( "in it.
The French said a Jesuit would come and banisl", diem. He did at length
come, and having all things prepared, he took a basin of holy water, a staff
uitn a little brush, and having on hi- white robe, went into the field of wheal.
I asked several prisoners who had lately been taken by privateers, and
brought in there, vi/. Mr. Woodbury, Cocks [Cox?] and Morgan, whether
they would go and see the ceremony. Mr. ^^"oodbury asked me whether I
was designed to go, and I told him yes. He then said I was as bad as a
papist, and a d- -d fool. I told him I belit^'.ed as little of it as he did, but
that I was inclined to see the ceremony, that T might tell it to my friends.

With about thirty I'bllowing in ])rocession, the Jesuit marched through tlie
field of wheat, a young lad going before him bearing the holy water. Then
th-' Jesuit, dii)ping his brush into the holy water, sjirinkled the field on each
siue of him; a little bell jingling at the same time, and all singing the words
Ora pro nobis. At the end of the field they wheeled to the left about, and
returned. Thus they passed and repassed the field of wheat, the black-
birds all the while rising befoie them only to light behind. At their return
I told a French lad that the friar had done no service, and recommended
them to shoot the birds. The lad left me, as I thought, to see what the
Jesuit would say to my observation, which turned out to be the case, for he
told the lad that the sins of the peofjle were so great that he could not pre-
vail against those birds. The same friar as vainly attem])ted to banish the
iiiusketoes from Signecto,* but the sins of the people there were also too
great for him to prevail, but, on the other hand, it seemed that more came,
which caus(,'d the i)eople to susj)ect that some had come for the sins of the
Jesuit also.

Some time after, Col. Hawthorne attempted the taking of the l-'rench fijrt
up this river. \\'e heard of him some time before he came u]), by the guard
which (lovernor Villebon had stationed at the rivers mouth. Monsieur, my
master, had gone to France, and madam, his wife, advised with me. She
desired me to nail a paper on the door of her house, which pai)er read as
follows :

*'l entreat the general of the English not to burn my house or barn, nor
destroy my cattle. I don't su',)i)osc that such an army comes here to de-
stroy a few inhabitants, but to rake the fort above us. I have shown kind-
ness to the Fhiglishi captives, as we were capacitated, and have l)ought two.

This, we need scarcely say, is intended for Chigiiecto, where there was a 'irge French Settlement.

!f

.V

CAPIIVITV or JOHN OVI.KS.

1 i

1 '

5

i

J,

' is •

of tlic Indians, and soul thcin to jioston. \Vc liaNc one now with us, and he
shall ^o als(j when a convenient oi)j)ortunity presents, and he desires it,"

\\'hen I had done this, madam said to me, "Little English, " [which was
the familiar name she used to call me by,] "w^e have shown you kindness,
and now it lies in your power to serve or disserve us, as you know where our
goods are hid in the woods, and that monsieur is not home. 1 could have
sent you to the fort and put you under confmment, but my respect to you
a.nd your assurance of love to us ha\ e disposed me to confide in you, i)er-
suaded you will not hurt us or our affairs. And, now, if you will not run
away to the I'jiglish, who are ( oming up the river, but serve our interest, I
will a((juaint moiisieur of il on his return from France, which will be very
pleasing to him; and I now give my word, you shall have liberty to go to
Boston on the first op|)ortunity, if you desire it, or any other favor in my
l)Owev shall not be deified you." I reijlied:

'■ Madam, it is contrary to the nature of the I'lngHsh to re(]uite evil for
good. I shall endeavor to serve }ou and your interest. I shall not run to
the English, but if I am taken l)y them I shall willingly go with them, and
yet endeavor not to disserve )0U either in your person or goods."

The i)lace where we lived was called Hagimsai:k,* twenty-five leagues from
the river's mouth, as I have before stated.

We no\\ embarked and went in a large boat and canoe two or three miles
n\) an eastern branch of the river that comes from a large pond, and on the
fi)llowing evening sent down four hands to make discovery. And while they
were sitting in the house the English surrounded it and took one of the four.
The otner three made their esca^ie in the dark and through the English sol-
diers, and coming to us, gave a surprising account of affairs. Upon this
news madam said to me, "Little English, now you can go from us, but 1
hope you will remember your word." I said, "Madam, be not concerned.
I will not leave }ou in this strait." She said, " I know not what to do with
my two poor little babes." f said, "Madam, the sooner we embark and go
o\er the great pond the better." Accordingly we embarked aiid went over
the pond.f 'i'he next day we spoke with Indians, who were in a canoe, and
they gave us an account that Signecto town was taken and burnt. Soon
after we heard the great guns at (lov. Villebon's fort, which the Engfish en-
gaged several days. 'Hiey killed one man, then drew off down the river ;
fearing to continue longer, for fear of being frozen in for the winter, which in
truth they would have been.

Hearing no rejjort of cannon for several days, I, with two others, went
down to our house to make discovery. We found our young lad who was
taken by the English when they went up the river. The general had shown
himself so honorable,' that on reading the note on our door, he ordered it not
to be l)urnt, nor the barn. Our cattle and other things he i)reserved. except
one or two and the j)oultry for their use.t At their return they ordered the

■ 'I'his, it is scarcely necessary to explain, was the place now called Jemseg. The reader will observe
from this how strangely Indian names have been changed in two centuries.

t'l'liis "pond " was drand I-ake. 'J'lie term "pond' is used in some parts of Nc" Kngland to express a
large sheet of w;iter, or in the very opposite sense from its proper meaning.

t This was a remarkahjle stretch of clemency on the part of the Knglish commander-in-chief, and it was
fortunate fur l.oiiis d'Amoiirs and his family that Col. Church had been deprived of the chief command, fur
he would have shown no such consideration for their property, as his actions >)oth before and afterwards at
Hassamaquoddy, Minas, and Chigneclo show. Some of Church's .actions in 1704, when on what he calls hi',
last expedition east, were incredibly barbarous. At Passamaquoddy a good many imresisting French were
massacred. At AUnas he cut the dykes and destroyed the marsh lands. In short everything in the way of
destruction that could be done was done l.'y Church, but when fortresses were to be captured, Church was
nf no acc:'iuit. He failed to capture Port Royal as he failed to capture Nashwaak.

CAPTIVITY OF JOHN GVl.KS.

33

Vi'i'.I oliscrvc

young lad to be put on shore. Finding things in this posture, we returned
and gave madam an account of it.*

"Ihe expetlilioii wluch consisted of 500 men, under the command of Col. Llmrcli wlio liiid won reputation
in King I'liilip's war, left lioston on the ;:5th August, i6iy6, in a number of shallops ar.d light vi-ssels, and
followed tlie coast, calling at I'iscataque, Penobscot, aiid Kennebec. They then sailed for Heaubrssin,
(Kort Lawrence) at the head of Cumberland Hay, where they landed and committed \ariuiis depredations,
phuiderin^ the inhaliitants, who f';d to the woods. Church's experience in Indian warfare had pro! ably
unfitted hmi for strife of a more civilized character, for there was certainly something piratical in the con-
duct of this expedit.on, which appears to have started with no more definite objei t than to pliuuter and an-
noy the enemy. After spending several days at Keaubassiii, they again set sail, and on the 2i>th September
arrived ofl St. John Harbor, landing somewhere in the vicinity of Alanawagoniche. Here C Inirch was in-
fcjrrned by a Frencii soldier, whi,m he captured, that 12 cannon were buried in the beach, which were pro-
bably part of the armament intended for the fort which was to be erected on the site of P'ort la Tour. After
taking possession of them, he sailed for the .St. Croix, where he was joined by a reinforcement from Boston,
consisting of the Animh'l, the Proviucf galley, and a transport, with 200 men on board. Church was here
superseded by Colonel Hawthorne, who took the chief command of the expedition — a change which, by
spreading dissatisfaction among the leaders, operated injuriously on the result of the enterprise. Villebon,
who was constantly on the alert, had early suspected that an attempt would be made to capture Nashwaak,
and had sent an ensign, named Chevalier, with 4 men, tt> the mouth of the river to watch for the appro.'ich
of the enemy. Fr(jm a rocky point which overlooks the I'ay, they could observe an I'.nglish brig.intine ap-
proaching, and soon after the rest of the fleet hove in sight. Some of the troops landed from tlie vessels with
such celerity that Chevalier and his party were attacked, and h;id to take to the woods ; and two days later,
when he was returning to the coast, he fell into an ambuscade, and was killed, and two of his men taken by
the Indians, who had allied themselves to the English. Intelligence of Chevalier's fate and the approach t)f
the enemy was taken to Villebon, at Nashwaak, by a brother of the latter, M. de Neuvillette, who had
been .sent out to reconnoitre. Vigorous preparations were immediately made to resist an attack, which was
now certain, and all the available aid in the vicinity at once called in. The garrison niunbered 100 soldiers
and they were kept constantly employed in strengthening the defences and mounting fresh cannon. On the
i2th October, when Neuvillette arrived at the fort, N'iliebon despatclied a messenger to father .Simon, beg-
ging him to bring as many of his neophytes as he could influence, to the defence of the Fort. (Jn the 14th
.Simon arrived at Nashwaak with 36 warriors to join the garrison, who v";re still constantly employed in throwing
up new entrenchments. Neuvillette was .again sent out to recoimoiire, and on the i6th he returned, report-
ing that he had seen the English in gre.'it force a league and a half below Jemseg, and that their approach
might be hourly expected. On the 17th the gi-ucralc was beat, and Villebon addressed the garrisim, ex-
horting them to be brave in the defence of their post, and remind'ng them of the prowess of their nation.
To stimulate their courage still further, he assured them that if any of them should be maimed in the c nutest,
his majesty would provide for him while he lived. This addre.ss was listened to with much enthusias.T), and
at its close tb., cries of I'/Vc le rcy awakened the echoes of the wide spreading forest, and were borne down
the river air lost to the F^nglish fleet. 'I'he same evening l?aptiste, the captain of a P'rench privateer, with
the brothe, s Rene' and Mathieu d'Amours, and ten Frenchmen, who lived lower down the river, arrived at
the fort. Villebon stationed them with the Indians, to endeavor, if possible, to prevent the landing of the
Flnglish. Baptiste and Rene' d'Amours were placed in command of this detachment. That night the gar-
rison lay under arms, as from the barking of the dogs, it w.as evident the enemy was near. Next mornmg,
between 8 and 9 o'clock, an armed sloop rounded the point below the fort, and was immediately followed by
two others, all of them being full of armed men. Villebon was attending mass .at this time, but on the alarm
being given, hastened at once to his post. The vessels approached until they were within half the distance
of a -annon shot, when they were fired on from the fort, upon which they made for the shore, and effected a
landing on the eastern .side of the St. John, behind a point of land on the lower side of the Nashwaak. No
attempt was made to oppose their landing, as the River Nashwaak intervened between them and the
Frencn. They advanced at once to a point opposite the fori, where the river did not exceed a pistol shot in
width, and commenced throwing up earthworks in the form of a demi bastion. In three hours they had two
guns mounted and re.ady to fire, and hoisting the Royal .Standard of England, they commenced firing. A
third gun of larger size was mounted in the course of the day. The contest was carried on with vigor,— the
fire of musketry being heavy, and I '; guns on both sides well served. La Cote particularly di.stinguishing
himself by the rapidity .ind precision of his firing from the fort. The Indians on both sides appear to have
taken a considerable part in the contest, which was only terminated by the approach of darknes.s. The Eng-
li.';h, with singidar negligence, had omitted to provide themselves . ith tents, and were consequently in a
great measure at the mercy of the elements. That night was frosty and cold on the low land at the margin
of the river, and the fires which they lighted were targets for the enemy's shot, so that they were obliged to
extinguish them. In consequence of this, they suffered greatly, and were in poor condition to renew the
attack next morning. As soon as day dawned, the fire of mu.sketry from the fort commenced, and about
8 o'clock the F^nglish got their guns again into operation. One of them was dismounted by a shot from the
fort, and the firing became so severe that the others had to be abandoned in the course of the day. From
the vigor with which the defence was conducted, it became evident that the fort could not be taken unless
by a regular investment, while the absence of tents and the approach of winter made such an operation im-
possible. It was therefore decided to abandon the undertaking, and the same evening fires were lighted over
a large extent of ground to deceive the French while the troops embarked. Villebon seems to have sus-
pected the design, for he proposed to Baptiste and Rene' d'Amours to cross the river below the fort and
annoy the English in their retreat with their Indians, but they declined so uncertain and dangerous a ser-
vice. When the morning d.awned, the English camp was empty, and Neuvillette was sent to see if they
had embarked. He foimd their ve.ssels (4 in number) three leagues below, and going down the river with a
favorable wind. The expedition, according to the French account, lost Somen from sickness on the voyage
back to Boston. Thus ended the siege of Nashwaak. The loss of the French is st.ated by them to have
been one .soldier killed, a second losing his legs, and a third being wounded by the bursting of his musket.
Mathieu d'Amours, who lived at Freneuse, opposite the mouth of the Oro;nocto, and who came to assist in
the defence of the fort, was so much injured by e.xposure durii.g the siege that he shortly afterwards died,
and the English, on their way down the river, burnt his residence and laid waste his fields. The English
loss in the siege was said to be 8 soldiers killed, and 5 officers and 12 soldiers wounded — a number which,
considering the exposed position they occupied and the vigor of the French fire, does not appear too large to
l.e worthy of credence.

.■^4

CAPTIVITY OK JOHN GYI-ES.

She acknowledged the many flivors which the English had showed her,
with gratitude, and treated me with great civility. The next spring monsieur
arrived from France in the man-of-war. He thanked me for my care of his
affairs, and said he would endeavor to fulfil what madam had jjromised me.

Accordingly, in the year 1698, peace being proclaimed, a slooj) came to
the mouth of the river with ransom for one Michael Cooms. 1 put mon-
sieur in mind of his word, telling him there was now an opportunity for me
to go and see the Knglish. He advised me to continue with him; said he
would do for me as for his own, &c. I thanked him for his kindness, but
rather chose to go to Boston, hoping to find some of my relations yet alive.
'I'hen he advised me to go up to the fort and take my leave of the governor,
which I did, and he spoke very kindly to me.* Some days after I took my
leave of madam, and monsieur went down to the mouth of the river with me
to see me safely on board. He asked the master, Mr. Starkee, a Scotchman,
whether I must pay for my passage, and if so, he would pay it himself rather
than I should have it to i)ay at my arrival in Boston, but he gave me not a
l)enny. The master told him there was nothing to pay, and that if the owner
should make any demand he would pay it himself, rather than a poor prisoner
should suffer; for he was glad to see any English person come out of cap
tivity.

On the 13th of June, I took my leave of monsieur, and the sloop came to
sail for IJoston, where we arrived on the 19th of the same, at night. In the
morning after my arrival, a youth came on board and asked many questions
relating to my captivity, and at length gave me to understand that he was
my little brother, who was at play with some other children at Pemmaquid
when I was taken captive, and who escaped into the fort at that ])erilous time-
He told me my elder brother, who made his escape from the farm, when it
was taken, and our two little sisters were alive, but that our mother had been
dead some years. Then we went on shore and saw our elder brother.

On the 2nd of August, 1689, I was taken, and on the 19th of June, 1698,
I arrived at Boston ; so that I was absent eight years, ten months, and seven-
teen days. In all which time, though I underwent extreme difficulties, yet I
saw much of God's goodness. And may the most powerful ..nd beneficient
Being accept of this public testimony of it, and bless my experiences to ex-
cite others to confide in His all-sufficiency, through the infinite merits of
Jesus Christ.

* Governor Villebon has left .a good reputation behind him as .in able and zealous officer. He was a son of
the Baron Bekancourt and had several brothers, all officers in the service of France. Villebon died at the
mouth of" the River St. John, 5th July, 170c, and was buried somewhere within the site of the present city,
but like many other cjood and great men, no man knows his grave. M. Diereville, who published an account
of a voyage to Acadie in 1708, was here when Villelwn died. Hecalls him "grand hotnnte, ires Men fait
et plein d' esprit. ' '

\l ■ 1'

APPENDIX

CONTAININCi MINUTKS OF TIIK KMl'I.OVMKNTS, I'UIU.IC STATIONS,
ETC., OF JOHN GYLES, ESQ., COMMANDER OF THE GAKRISO.n ON
ST. CEORCiE'S RIVER.

After my return out of captivity, June 28th, 1698, I ap])lied myself to the
government for their favor. Soon after I was employed by old father
Mitchel, ot Maiden, to go as his inter[)reter on trading account to St. John's
river.

October 14th, 1698, 1 was employed by the government, Lieutenant
(iovernor Stoughton commander-in-chief, to go as interpreter, at three pounds
per month, with Major Converse and old Capt. Alden to Penobscot to fetch
captives. At our return to Boston I was dismissed; but within a (qw days
the governor sent for me to interpret a conference with Bommazeen, and
other Indians then in jail.

Some time after I was again put in pay in order to go interpreter with
Col, Phillips and Capt. Southack, in the province galley, to Casco Bsy, to
exchange said Indians [Bommazeen and others] for English captives. In
December, 1698, we returned to Boston with several captives which we had
liberated, and I was dismissed the service, and desired to attend it in the
spring. 1 pleaded to be kept in pay that I might have wherewith to support
myself at school. I went into the country, to Rowley, where boarding was
cheap, to practice what little I had attained at school.

March, 1699. With the little of my wages that I could reserve, I paid for
my schooling and board, and attended the service upon request, and was
again put into pay, and went with Col. Phillips and Maj. Converse in a
large brigantine up Kennebeck River for captives, and at our return to Bos-
ton the province galley being arrived from New York with my lord Bellemont,
and the province truck put on board, I was ordered on board the galley.
We cruised on the eastern shore; and in November, 1699, I was put out of
pay, though I pleaded to be continued in it, seeing I must attend the ser-
vice in the spring, and be at considerable expense in the winter for my
schooling.

In the spring of 1700, I attended the service, and was under pay again.
On August 27th, a fort was ordered to be built at Casco Bay, which was
finished on the 6th of October following, and the province truck landed, and
I was ordered to reside there as interpreter, with a captain, &c. Not long
after, Gov. Dudley sent me a lieutenant's commission, with a memorandum
on its back, "No further pay but as interpreter at three pounds per month."

August loth, 1703. The French and Indians besieged our fort for six
days. (Major March was our commander.) On the i6th of the same
month, Capt. Southack arrived in the province galley, and in the night fol-
lowing the enemy withdrew.

May 19th, 1704. I received a few lines from his excellency directing me
to leave my post, and accompany Col. Church on an expedition round the
Bay of Fundy. September following I returned to my post, without any

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36

APPENDIX.

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further wages or encouragement for that service than the beforementioned
pay at the garrison.

April, 1706. There was a change of the ( hief-officer at our garrison. I
chose to be dismissed with my old ofticer, which was granted. 'I'he same
year his excellency (iov. Dudley presented me with a captain's commission,
and ordered ('ol. Saltonslail to detach fifty effective men to l)e delivered to
me in order for a marcli. In May, 1707, 1 entered on an expedition under
Col. March, for Port Royal, at the termination of which I was dismissed.

May 1 2th, 1,08, I received orders from his excellency to go to Port
Royal with a Hag of truce to exchange prisoners, and brought off all. At my
return 1 was dismissed the service.

In 1709,1 received a commission, and Col. Noyes had orders to detach
forty men, whom he put under me, with orders to join the forces for Canada.
At Mull, August ist 1709, I received orders from his excellency to leave my
company with my lieutenants, and go to Port Royal with a flag of truce to
exchange prisoners. I went in the sloop Hannah and Ruth, Thomas
AVaters, master. 1 had nine French ])risoners, which were all that were in
our governor's hands. These he ordered me to deliver to Cov, Supercass,
"and to let him know that he [Cov. l)udley]ex])ected him to deliver all the
English prisoners within his power, within six days, which I was ordered to
demand and insist upon, agreeably to his promise last year." I was ordered
to observe to him that (Iov. Dudley highly resented his breach of promise in
not sending them early this spring, according to his jjarole of honor, by my-
self, when we had returned him ui)wards of forty of his peoi)le, and had made
provision for bringing home ours; and to make particular inc^uiry after Capt.
Myles, and to demand his and his comjiany's release also.

Accordingly, arriving at Port Royal, I was kindly enter' ained by Gov.
Supercass ; ))rought off above one hundred prisoners. Soon after my return
our forces were dismissed, and I received no other consideration for my ser-
vice than pay as captain of my company.

August, 17 15. I was desired, and had great promises made me by the
proprietors, and received orders from his excellency to build a fort at Pejep-
scot, [now Bmnswick, Me.] Soon after our arrival there the Indians came
in the night, and forbid our laying one stone upon another. I told them I
came with orders from Governor Dudley to bur;! a fort, and if they disliked
it they might acquaint him with it; and that i' they came forcibly upon us,
they or I should fall on the spot. After such UaC hot words they left us, and
we went on with our building, and finished it, November 25th, 1715, and our
carpenters and masons left us. My wages were very small, yet the gentle-
men proprietors ordered me only five pounds for my good services, &c.

July 1 2th, 1722, a number of Indians engaged fort George about two
hours, killing one person, and then drew off to killing cattle, &:c.

April, 1725, I received orders from his honor Lieut. Gov. Dummer to go
ten day's march up Ammiscoggin river, and in my absence the Indians
killed two men at our fort. I received no further pay for said service, only
the pay of the garrison.

December 12th, 1725, 1 was dismissed from fort George, and Capt. Wood-
side received a commission for the command of that place,

December 13th, 1725, I was commissioned for the garrison at St. George
river.

APPF.NDIX.

37

Se[)tcml)cr, 1726. I was detained some months from my post, liy order of
Gov. Dummer, to interpret for the Cajje Sable Infliaii.s, who were brought in
and found guilty. There was no other person in the jjrovince that had
their language. His honor and the honorable count il j)rfscnted me with ten
l)ounds for this service, which I gratefully received.

Nov. 28th, 1728, I was commissioned for the j)cacc.

I have had the honor to serve this province under eight commanders in
chief, governors, and lieutenant governors, from the year 1698 to the year
1736; and how mu( h longer my services may continue I submit to the
Governor of the world, who overrules every circumstance of life, which re-
lates to our ha])pincss and usefulness, as in infinite wisdom He sees meet.

Be calm, my Dclius, and serene,
However fortune clian^je the secne.
In thy must dejected slate,
Sink not underneath the weijjht :
, Nor yet wlien hapjjy days begin.

And the full title comes rolling in,
Ix't not a fierce unruly joy
The settled quiet of thy mind destroy.
However fortune change the scene,
lie calm, my Delius, and serene. —HoRACi".

^^